


The Best Things in the World Must be Felt with the Heart

by solostsobroken



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Derek never knew Kate, FBI Agent Derek Hale, First Kiss, M/M, Mates, Mentions of Cancer, Mentions of Violence, Mpreg is the Norm, No Hale Fire, Panic Attacks, Plot sneaks in, Self-Lubrication, Sick Stiles, Slow Build, Stiles Wears Glasses, Stiles and Jackson friendship, Stiles is a bit OOC, The Sheriffs name is Jonathan, Underage - Freeform, Werewolf Alpha Derek, Will continually add tags, full wolf Derek, human omega stiles, mentions of mpreg, mentions of past physical abuse, original animal character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-02 11:59:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 63,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2811188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solostsobroken/pseuds/solostsobroken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Argent family had been kidnapping and illegally selling omegas for years. When FBI Agent Derek Hale and his team go and raid their home, they find, rescue and free dozens of omegas. That was ALL Derek had expected to be doing. What he hadn't expected was to find his own mate, Stiles, chained up with the rest of them. Seeing the omega severely sick and injured, Derek is determined to nurse him back to health. As he slowly learns more about his mate, he stumbles upon a mystery from Stiles' past that may just turn into the biggest case of his lifetime. Derek is determined to figure it out, no matter how long it takes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *Nervously peeks head out from behind curtain* Um, hi there! Sooo, I've never actually written a story for Teen Wolf before, but this little scenario all started out as a dream I had one night, and I just felt like the story needed to be told. I really hope it doesn't suck too badly. The Teen Wolf fandom is my absolute favorite, so I really wouldn't want to dissapoint anyone. I feel like this is going to be a semi-longish story, but I happen to be a college student, and that means I have lots of papers to write that come before this fun stuff (unfortunately), so if I go a while without posting a new chapter, I swear I didn't abandon this. It just means that I have been busy. And going off of that, I can't really promise that the chapters will be all that long, either, but I will try my hardest! Anyway, thank you for reading this, and I hope you at least somewhat enjoy this fic! *Awkwardly bows before proceeding to run off stage in fear*

Everything was chaos.

About a dozen cop cars and ambulances were lined up on both sides of the street, their bright red and blue lights flashing wildly as they blocked the entrance to the Argent Estate. Dark FBI vehicles were scattered across the lush, green lawn, making it obvious to the neighborhood and it's nosy people that there was some type of highly illegal bust taking place.

The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the darkness around the law enforcement officers in an eerie, calm glow. It's radiance was the exact opposite of the present environment. Derek frowned slightly at the irony, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans before re-gripping the gun in his hands.

"Steady your aim," Lydia commanded all the gunsmen, the lethal tint to her voice showing the utmost signs of a severely strained Chief. "I want their bodies to hit the ground the second they come running out."

A buzz of white noise sounded before the voice of Scott McCall broke through the headpiece settled in Derek's ear. "We managed to break in through the back and scare them towards the front. They're armed with weapons. I _repeat_ : they're armed with weapons."

There was a collective tensing of every body outside, some gripping their guns tighter, others falling to their knees in a poised-to-kill stance. Derek exhaled heavily through his nose, a large sense of calm flowing through his body. He learned to cherish moments like these, for he knew that that calm would be completely blown to smithereens in the next couple of minutes, overtaken by a large spike of adrenaline that would rush through his veins.

"Hale, be careful in there," Lydia warned as he crouched closer to the doors of the large house. "They may have accomplices hiding in there."

Derek chuckled darkly. "I didn't sign up for this job for it's safety benefits, Martin. I can handle anyone who gets in my way."

"I don't need you to be all cutsie, Hale. I just need you to get in there alive and find those omegas. And for the love of christ, _try_ not to frighten them. Lord knows what those Argent bastards did to them."

Before Derek could respond with a snarky remark, the front doors opened with a loud bang, revealing an older man who looked to be in his 60's or 70's, and a young, blonde-haired woman who couldn't have been much older than 25. _Gerard and Kate Argent_ , Derek's mind supplied him. Everyone in the state of California knew their names, for they had been on the run for the last few years. It was rumored that they had been kidnapping and illegally selling omegas for _years_ , but nobody had actually been able to prove it, for no one actually knew of the omegas' locations. Until now.

As the two stumbled through the door, the sound of gunshots resonated through the air. Neither of the Argents had gotten the chance to fire their own weapons before their bodies were being jolted by a spray of bullets tearing through their flesh. Kate's body fell right away as a bullet tore through her forehead, bright-red blood spilling out to coat her blonde curls. A wet gurgle escaped from her lips as her body stilled. Gerard stayed on his feet for as long as he could, which was a little under 10 seconds. He then fell to his knees as he tried to aim his gun with a shaky hand, pointing it at one of the officers on his right.

Derek reacted quickly, his sharp reflexes urging him to aim perfectly and pull the trigger. The bullet tore through the skin of Gerard's throat, severing his vocal chords and letting him bleed out on the grass as he slumped over, gun falling out of his limp hand.

Derek took that as his cue to get moving. He walked swiftly through the door, gun held steady and ready to fire if he caught sight of any of Gerard's accomplices. He couldn't detect anyone else in the house with his keen Werewolf hearing, other than the faint, muffled voices of McCall and a few others trying to make their way towards him.

As he rounded a corner to his right, he moved quickly down a hallway which led him to a large, spacious living room. His lip curled in disgust as his eyes scanned the room, taking in the expensive looking furniture and decor. Framed photos lined every inch of the walls, telling stories about the generations of succesful Argents whom had lived there before. There were a few statues made of pure gold lining the walls, making it obvious that the Argents were not afraid to let their wealth be known. It sickened Derek knowing exactly where their money had been coming from.

He was about to turn around and head back the other way, but a noise made him stop in his tracks. It had been a quiet, almost muffled noise, but it had still been a noise nonetheless. His ears strained to pick up where it had come from, his heart beating wildly with the hope that he would find the omega's and-

There it was again.

Derek dropped his protective stance in exchange for shoving his gun in it's holster. He tilted his head back slightly and sniffed at the air, trying to catch any scent of Omega that he could. He held back a growl of frustration upon smelling nothing but stale perfume and faint cigar smoke. He ran a hand through his hair as his eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out where the noise had come from.

He was close, that much he knew. He could _feel_ it. It made his palms itch and his wolf squirm restlessly underneath his skin. He was supposed to be a _werewolf_ for christ sake. Scoping out things like this was supposed to be his specialty. Instead of answers, all he got was frustration. The smiling photos on the walls all seemed to be laughing at him, _taunting_ him for not living up to werewolf standards. What good was he if-

Derek's eyes widened, jerking his gaze up from the spot on the floor he had been glaring a hole into. His eyes scanned the photos on the wall, his suspicion increasing tenfold. He walked towards the pictures until his nose was nothing but a few inches away. He didn't give it another thought before he shoved a handful of the pictures off the walls, not feeling one bit of guilt as he heard some of the glass shatter. He kept shoving and scratching at the photos until he found what he was looking for.

A hidden door.

Of course. Hiding in plain sight. If Gerard Argent hadn't been such a psychotic fuck, Derek may have given him a few points for creativity.

"Whoa. Nice job, Hale," McCall's voice informs, sounding almost fascinated. A few more of their co-workers shuffle into the room, guns out and ready to shoot. Scott nods his head towards the door and it's flat keyhole. "Is there a key somewhere?"

Derek gives him The Eyebrow, hoping it conveys the question of, _Are you a complete and utter moron_? Scott just blinks at him, a confused look on his face.

"McCall, I'm not sure if you've noticed or not but _we're werewolves_. We don't need a fucking key," Derek growls. The blush that forms on Scott's cheeks makes Derek feel triumphant. He shoots a dark look towards the rest of his team. "Put those damn weapons down. They'll be scared enough as it is."

They all quickly obeyed, a few of them fumbling nervously under Derek's sharp gaze.

"We ready?" Derek questioned, voice low and lethal.

"Ready." The reply was weak, but none of them were lying.

Derek grit his teeth and slammed into the door with the side of his body. The structure made a groaning noise beneath his weight, but did not give way. Derek inhaled deeply through his nose as he backed up a step, bracing himself once more as he threw his weight against the door. There was a sharp, cracking noise as the thick, wooden door broke off the hinge.

Derek caught himself before he stumbled forwards, kicking hard at the un-even door with his heel. It clattered to the floor loudly, allowing Derek to look down what appeared to be a narrow, dark hallway. He surged forward, hearing small distressed noises echoing through the hall. As he neared a small, rickety stairwell, a collage of smells assaulted his nose; the spicy scent of fear, the acidic smell of vomit, the sharp, rotting scent of _death_. The worst part was that those were nowhere _near_ the only smells permeating from the basement. There were so many different types of scent's wafting through the air that Derek felt a little light-headed.

A crinkle formed between his brow as he frowned, tilting his head back a little to sniff the air. Besides the obvious sorrowful scents seeping through his nose, he could detect the slightest trace of something lighter, something sweeter. Something _good_. It made his arms break out in goosebumps. It was unlike anything he'd ever smelt before. It was _better_. _Much_ better.

As Derek and his fellow co-workers thumped down the rotting stairwell, Derek forced himself to concentrate on swallowing the excess saliva that had flooded his mouth. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be on a serious mission, he couldn't help but continue to drag in lungful's of the soft, sweet scent.

It drove his wolf mad.

His wolf wanted nothing more than to spring forth and hunt down the scent, curl protectively around it, snap viciously at anyone who tried to touch it. The scent was _his_. It belonged to _him_. Nobody else. And if anyone tried to get in the way of him and the delicious scent, Derek would not hesitate to kill-

Derek stopped dead in his tracks, eyes going wide in shock. He heard the confused sounds his fellow agents made as they were forced to a stop behind him, but their voices sounded far away as a high-pitched ringing filled his ears, making him feel dizzy. His mouth felt suddenly dry as a feeling of fear crept up his spine.

He knew the others could smell his sudden despair. Usually he was able to mask his personal feelings and scent's rather well, but this time he didn't give a damn. His brain was too busy going into shock to even consider hiding his fear from them.

"-erek? Derek!"

Derek growled lowly at the hand gripping his bicep, turning his head to see Scott staring at him with wide, confused eyes.

"Derek, what's wrong?" Scott whispered, pulling his hand back. He swallowed visibly, flickering his eyes back and forth between Derek and the rest of his squad. His eyes widened after a few moments, a crinkle of worry forming between his eyebrows. "Derek, your eyes are red."

Derek let out another low growl, trying to keep his fangs from expanding as he pulled in another whiff of the sweet scent. It was getting harder to control his own body, for his wolf was trying with all it's might to make him move towards the smell. He was trying as hard as he could to keep back the large howl that threatened to burst out of his lungs.

"Derek, your hands!" Scott cried, catching sight of the blood oozing out from between the Alphas clenched fists.

"Take over, Scott," Derek bit out through clenched teeth, his fangs winning his battle of will and tearing into his bottom lip. He could feel his eyes flickering back and forth from their natural color to red.

"But, D-derek," Scott stuttered. "I don't... I don't under-" Scott stopped abruptly, his brown eyes filling with unspoken knowledge.

Derek watched as realization flooded Scott's facial features, the look of pure sadness making Derek's wolf whine mournfully.

Scott looked from Derek, towards the hallway ahead of them, then back to Derek.

"Derek, no," Scott whispered, shaking his head in sorrow. "That's fucked. That's so fucked."

"Just take over, McCall," Derek ordered gruffly, thanking every god above that for once he didn't need to spell it out for the younger man.

Scott gave a curt nod before saying, "Go find 'em, Hale."

Almost as if he had been waiting for someones permission, Derek dropped all of his thoughts about Lydia's orders and bolted forward. The only mission his mind and body had at the moment was to find the smell. Find the person whom the smell belonged to.

Find his _mate_.

At the thought of the word 'mate,' he let his wolf loose, allowing it to let out a loud, viscious snarl which echoed loudly off the dusty walls. His feet pounded beneath him as he barreled down the hallway, body running on the pure adrenaline coursing through his veins. Taking a sharp left as the hallway curved, he stopped running with a sudden jolt, his wolf momentarily too stunned to move.

Hanging on the wall to his right were half a dozen tazers, iron chains and handcuffs, a cubby with a couple of syringes sitting on it, and four small vials filled with wolfsbane. But the worst part was the overwhelming stench of rot and death permeating the air, making a small, wounded whine escape through Derek's teeth.

There was a small archway in front of him, a thick, heavy, plastic curtain-like-thing hanging down from the ceiling and separating him from the omega's on the other side. Their sharp cries and loud whimpers could be heard easily, making Derek's stomach tie itself in knots. A small part of him didn't even want to look at what atrocities waited behind the curtain, but his wolf made the decision for him, making him stumble forward and push through the plastic curtain.

An angry growl was ripped from his throat at the sight before him. There had to be at least eighty omegas, if not more, chained up to the walls and hitching posts by both their hands and their feet, the iron holds only allowing them a few inches of free space. As far as Derek could tell, every single one of them were completely naked, no sign of blankets or clothing anywhere. That fact was even worse considering the room was made out of stone walls and concrete floor, which were both bound to get quite cold, especially considering the chill already running through the air.

The floors were a complete mess. Derek could spot old, dark blood stains on the floor, along with more recent piss stains. Fecal matter was everywhere; on the floors, on the walls, dried onto some of the omegas' skin. Chunks of dried vomit were spotted in several locations. The combined, putrid scent made Derek gag.

Upon seeing the wolfed out alpha, the omegas all reacted differently. Some tried to shrink back against the wall as much as possible. A couple of brave ones let out tiny growls, flashing their yellow eyes at him. One female omega close by him let out a small mewl, panting heavily as she turned around and presented to him, wiggling her ass enticingly. She was clearly in the midst of going through heat. And _that_ was how bad the smell was in the room. Even with his severely heightened senses, he couldn't pick out the scent of an omega in heat, even though it was supposed to be the most appealing scent to an alpha.

He heard the outraged cries of his fellow colleagues behind him, letting Derek know they were really close. A wave of fierce protectiveness rolled through his body at the thought of the other men getting closer. Though the majority of them were beta's, his wolf didn't care. It was just one more person who could potentially harm his mate.

Derek tipped his head back, sniffing the air to try and detect where his mate was. He caught the slightest whiff of something soft and sweet, allowing his nose and feet to guide him. Ignoring the high, needy whines of the omega's around him, he moved briskly down the rows, stepping over legs and outstretched arms. Towards the back of the room, there looked to be two hallways, one going left and the other going right, giving the entire room the shape of a T. Derek's senses led him to turn left, where he stopped and stared in shock.

There were only two omegas chained to the back wall, excluding them from the presence of the omegas in the main room. One of them had blonde hair and glowing blue eyes, fangs and claws extended as he growled surprisingly deeply at Derek. The one next to him was not a werewolf at all, but instead a human omega, which was considered to be a rare thing. He was slumped over and looked to be severely malnourished by the way his bones jutted out underneath his skin. Derek could count the ribs under the pale, creamy flesh, causing his wolf to let out a sharp, mournful whine.

_That was him._

That was Derek's mate. The little human.

Derek reined in his wolf, ridding himself of his glowing eyes and fangs before dropping to his knees with a thud. He crawled quickly towards his unconscious mate, heart beating erratically in his chest. He was less than a few feet away from touching the small body for the first time, when the other omega growled loudly at him once more.

A responding growl of his own started rumbling in his chest, but was cut off when the blue-eyed omega tried lunging at him, only to be stopped by the chains holding him back.

"Haven't you guys done enough to him?" the omega spat out through clenched teeth. "If you wanna fuck with somebody, why don't you pick me, huh?"

Derek just looked at him for a few moments, understanding that he was not a threat. He was just trying to protect Derek's mate, making Derek feel slightly grateful.

"I don't want to hurt him," Derek said in a gruff voice, eyes sweeping up and down his mate's small form. He felt his blood boil at the sight of his mate's right leg. There was no doubt that it was broken from the way it stuck out at the wrong angle. "God, that's the last thing I would ever do."

"Who are you?" the blonde demanded, his facial expression sour. "You don't look like the others."

"That's because I'm _not_ ," Derek growled. "I'm FBI agent Derek Hale. My squad and I just raided this house. The people who were holding you captive are dead, and there's dozens of people waiting outside to come in and help you all." Derek cast his look back towards his mate, hard eyes softening. "And I'm here to help him."

"You're his alpha, aren't you?"

Derek swallowed thickly and nodded. " _God_ , he looks so much worse than the others." Then, with trembling fingers, he proceeded to reach towards the frail wrist of his mate, lightly encircling it in his hand. God, his skin was so cold. It was a wonder why the poor thing wasn't shivering.

Derek released the boys wrist and quickly shrugged the thick, black jacket off of his own shoulders. He wasted no time in covering his mate's body with it, the size of it settling over the frail torso and his exposed private areas, stopping at mid-thigh. He was _so small_ compared to Derek.

With his wolf satisfied that the boy was properly covered, Derek once more grasped a bony wrist, thumb sliding beneath the metal cuff on his wrist with a little difficulty. With a small growl, he brought his other hand up, grabbed the cuff, then easily snapped it in two, the metal clanging loudly to the floor. The skin on his mates wrist where the metal had dug into was badly bruised, a dark blackish-blue color. Most likely from pulling at the restraints so frequently. He quickly gave the same treatment to the other wrist, as well as his mates ankles.

Derek looked towards the blonde omega, who was watching him with a cautious gaze.

 _He's making sure you're not going to hurt your mate_ , his mind supplied. He wasn't sure whether to respect the omega, or whether to growl at him for not trusting his actions around his own mate.

"Do you know his name?" Derek asked, vaguely aware of the echoed shouts of other agents and policeman bouncing off the musky walls. "Maybe he'll wake if I talk to him."

The omega slowly shook his head no, a sad look gathering in his eyes.

"He told me to call him Stiles, but I'm willing to bet that's a nickname." The omega paused for a second, swallowing thickly. "And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I don't think he's gonna wake up. Hasn't for almost a week."

Derek was about to demand what he meant, but the smallest whiff of a scent made his stomach drop.

The subtle smell was very familiar, for he had caught the same fetid scent on his human aunt who had died of cancer a few years ago.

_No._

Derek shook his head in horror. "No," he whispered. "I... I _just_ found him. I've waited twenty-five years for this moment, waited _so long_ to fucking _find_ him, and now he's..." Derek swallowed thickly, a long, mournful whine escaping his throat.

"Dying," the omega supplied in a voice devoid of all emotion. "He's dying."

"I know," Derek hissed, eyes flaring red. "I can fucking _smell_ it on him."

"That's why they broke his leg, you know," the omega went on. "To try and trigger his healing process. He may be a human, but he's still got healing abilities. Not as great or as fast as ours, but they're still there. The last thing they would want to do is sell a dying omega."

A feral growl ripped from Derek's throat, causing the omega to roll his eyes. Derek shuffled forward, carefully slipping one arm behind his mates back and the other underneath his knees, gently scooping the omega up into his arms. The younger boys head lolled to the side and rested in the crook of Derek's neck, making the alpha extremely worried about the barely-there puffs of breath ghosting across his skin.

"I've gotta get him to the hospital," Derek speculated, just about to push himself into a standing position. "He needs help immediately."

"You've gotta be shitting me," the omega stated, causing Derek to give him a dirty look. The blonde omega crossed his arms over his chest and glared right back at the alpha. "What, you think _they_ can fucking help him? Help a human boy who's three-quarters of the way dead from cancer?"

"What the fuck am I _supposed_ to do?" hissed Derek, eyes flaring as he hugged the cold body to his chest. "Just let him fucking die right here in my arms? I'm not giving up on him, damn it. He's still alive right now, and as long as he's breathing, there's a chance he'll survive."

"Christ, I'm not saying you should let him die. Don't get your tail in a fucking twist," the blonde spat out, blue eyes shooting Derek an 'are-you-really-this-stupid?' look. "Haven't you ever heard about the claiming bite? About how it can sometimes heal even the sickest of people? _Including_ said people with cancer? Christ, are you alphas this clueless all the time?"

Derek furrowed his brow, faintly re-calling someone telling him that once. But that was just it. He had heard about it _once_. Once his entire _life_. That meant it was more than likely a once in a lifetime deal.

"You're more likely to win the lottery than have the claiming bite cure you," Derek said bitterly. "Not to mention, both mates need to be fully comprehensive. If you haven't noticed, he's not exactly awake."

"I understand that," the omega growled out before a suddenly serious look took over his facial features. The next words he spoke were in a much lower voice, almost as if he were trying to keep anyone else from overhearing. "Just hear me out for a second. For your normal, everyday claiming bite, it's only the alpha who bites the omega, right? And that cures somebody who's sick once in a blue moon. But the thing is, people don't understand that the _real_ power is in the omega's bite. You bite them, then they bite you, and your combined bond _will_ work. Just trust me."

Derek just stared at the omega for a few seconds, letting the information process.

"And, who are you exactly?" he questioned after his moment of silence.

"Jackson. Jackson Whittemore," the omega- _Jackson_ -replied. "I've been doing these kind of, well, _studies_ , I guess you could call them. Most alphas won't let their omega bite them back. Apparently it's a sign of weakness or some bullshit on the alphas part. But what they don't know it that new tests are being released to the press, saying that an exchange of a bite between Alpha and Omega can not only cure an omega, but _also_ an Alpha, if need be. Now, you tell me if you still want to take him to a hospital that's just going to _kill_ him, or if you want to _really_ save him."

"Look, Jackson," Derek sighed. "I believe what you're saying, all right? I really do. I would let him bite me back in a heartbeat if it meant seeing him alive. But like I said before, we both need to be comprehensive. If I take him to the hospital first, they can probably get him to at least wake up. Then when he's responsive I can take him-"

Jackson's scoff cut him off. "What, you actually think they're going to let you just take him and leave when he wakes up? No. They're gonna want to do tests and inject him with so many different fluids and chemicals that he's not going to even _smell_ like yours anymore. They'll do it even though they'll already know what's wrong with him. He'll die there in a cold bed all alone. Is that really what you fucking want? Because I know for damn sure you won't be allowed in the room with him. He doesn't have the bite on his neck, so they'll tell you to fuck off, say you don't have the right to be there with him."

Derek whined high in his throat, the back of his eyelids starting to sting with the familiar feeling of tears about to fall. His nose gently nuzzled the brown hair belonging to his omega, inhaling his soft, precious scent.

"Ok," he whispered, voice rough with emotion. "I won't take him to a hospital. But... but how am I going to wake him? If he hasn't woken in a week, then what can I do differently?"

Jackson narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the right, the tiniest hint of a smile pulling at his lips. "You tell me. You're an FBI agent, for christ sake. You always have people on speed-dial. Are you really telling me that there's nobody you can call to help you figure it out?"

Derek's mind raced, filtering through all of the people on his contact list. He made sure his hold on his omega was strong before he reached into his pocket with one hand, grasping the hard, smooth material that was his phone and pulling it out. He quickly flipped it open, looking under his contacts tab. He scrolled furiously through the list, not seeing anybody who could be of help. That was, until he came to a certain name.

His eyes flickered to Jackson's questioning ones, the omega holding his gaze even as a fellow FBI member bustled over and tried to get Jackson's hands and feet free.

"Yeah," Derek spoke up, voice filled with hope. "Yeah, I think I know someone who can help." With that, the thumb hovering over the 'call' button pressed down firmly. He held it up to his ear, heart beating rapidly in his chest as it rang and rang.

After what felt like an hour, a voice crackled to life on the other end, momentarily stunning Derek with relief. He quickly shook himself out of his stupor before declaring in an urgent voice, "Hey, Deaton. It's Derek Hale. I was hoping you could do me a favor."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow you guys! I was seriously blown away by all of the comments and kudos that this fic got for it only being the first chapter! Like, I seriously understand why there are so many fics for Teen Wolf now, and it's all because you are all super awesome! No joke! This fic has almost 3,000 hits! That makes me sooo happy! You guys are freaking awesome! Haha, sorry for repeating myself, but I just got so flattered and excited. I really wish there was a fanfiction class in college... So anyways, I'll stop yapping and let you read the next chapter. I hope it's as good as the first!
> 
> Also, a quick note! I really don't have the first clue about anything when it comes to medical stuff other than the things I've read online or seen on tv. So if you see something that doesn't seem quite right, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to change it!

Pulling into the familiar parking lot of his condominium, Derek quickly pulled into his usual spot, gritting his teeth as the car lurched to a hard stop. He instinctively flung an arm out to press his hand to his unconcious mates chest, making sure he wasn't jarred. Earlier, Derek had made sure to buckle him in safely before speeding off down the road, but he didn't want to take the chance of any more possible pain being inflicted upon the omega.

He quickly got out of his camaro, rushing to the passenger door and yanking it open. He cast a brief look around the parking lot, trying to spot Deaton's white van. As if on cue, the vehicle rolled into the parking lot, pulling up right next to Derek's car.

The doctor/vet/family friend had listened to Derek's frantic message earlier and agreed to help, telling Derek not to worry. They agreed to meet at Derek's condo, Deaton saying he would be bringing some supplies with him. After Derek had hung up with the vet, he had quickly thanked the snarky omega, Jackson, before making his way out of the house. He had recieved some questioning gazes, but he had snarled at anyone who tried to get in his way, his mind thinking only of getting his mate to his car. The ride to his home had been a bit of a blur between casting worried glances towards the passenger seat and trying to obey the speed limits. The important thing was that they had both arrived safely.

"Derek," Deaton greeted in a monotone voice. As he stepped out of the van, he lifted a large, black bag onto his shoulder. It looked like it weighed a lot, but if it did, Deaton's face didn't give anything away. "Let's get him inside your house. He should be as comfortable as he possibly can be."

Derek nodded once sharply, bending down to gather the sleeping boy in his arms. He tried as hard as he could to not bump his broken leg too much, but it was an inevitable task. His wolf whined at every small movement that bumped the broken leg, so as he kicked his door shut, he adjusted his grip on one of the bare, cold thighs and started to take away the pain. He hissed as the sharp pain was absorbed into his body, the steady flow of it not stopping for a while until it was all gone. He sighed in relief as the small body relaxed slightly in his arms.

"There you go," Derek whispered into the omegas hairline as he started walking towards the large doors. "I bet that feels better, huh?"

As the two men approached the main entrance, Derek looked towards Deaton.

"You're going to have to let us in. I've kind of got my hands full," Derek pointed out. "My key ring is clipped onto my belt buckle. There's a card attached to it that you have to swipe through the card slot. Then it'll open."

Deaton nodded, plucking the key ring off of Derek's belt with quick fingers. He grasped the card and walked up to the door, swiping it through the slot. A small light above the door flickered green as a clicking noise was heard, giving them the go ahead. Once inside the building, Derek walked determindly through the exorbitant lobby, his mind only focused on getting to the elevator.

As the elevator announced it's arrival with a ding, the two stepped inside. Derek managed to press the button for the tenth floor, looking towards Deaton as the doors closed.

"Thanks for doing this on such short notice," Derek thanked.

"Don't thank me so soon. I haven't done anything yet," the older man responded.

The corner of Derek's lips twitched up into a smile. "I know. But you will."

Derek wasn't sure if he saw correctly, but he was almost positive that he saw the beginings of smile on Deaton's face.

Both of them quickly stepped out when the elevator came to a smooth stop. Derek led them down the hallway, stopping only when he was in front of door number 1024. He stepped to the side so Deaton could unlock the door, pushing it open with his hand.

"You can go to the first bedroom on the right," Derek instructed, kicking the door shut behind him. As he was about to move forward, he heard a loud hiss coming from his left. He frowned and looked down at the cat on his floor, rolling his eyes.

The cat had been a birthday present from his sister Laura for his last birthday. He had expressed to her how much he didn't want a cat, _especially_ one who was such an asshole, but Laura hadn't given him a choice. She was the co-owner of a rescue center that was specifically for cats, and the center had been getting overcrowded. The cat that she had given to him was only a few days away from being put down due to nobody wanting to adopt him. And honestly, Derek didn't blame any of the people who had passed him up.

First of all, he was a weird looking cat. He had a tan colored coat with one black paw, and his tail was nothing more than a stub. His head looked like it was twice as large as it's body, and it's eyes were two different colors: one blue, the other a dark brown. There was also a large chunk of his right ear missing, like a bigger animal had bitten it off. And if his appearance didn't turn you off, his nasty personality definitely would. He was always hissing at Derek or glaring at him from wherever he was perched. He constantly chewed up the toilet paper in the bathroom and then spit it out all over the floor. And last but definitely not least, whenever Derek was trying to do his paperwork, the dumb thing would yowl at the top of it's lungs, like it just _knew_ Derek was doing important work.

 _"Come on, Derek. Give him a chance!"_ Laura had said. _"If anything, you two should get along great! You're both moody as fuck, and not to mention, you both have the same exact bitch glare. It was a match made in heaven!"_

"I should have just dropped you off on the street somewhere," Derek snarled.

The cat hissed once more in retaliation.

"Oh, get the fuck out of my way. I don't have time for this," Derek growled, shoving the cat to the side with his foot.

It yowled as it ran and hid behind the couch, peering out from behind it with pure hatred in his beady little eyes.

Derek huffed and strode quickly to his bedroom, eyeing the many small vials sitting on his nightstand that Deaton had pulled out from his bag.

"Is this _your_ bedroom?" Deaton asked, not taking his eyes away from whatever was in his hands.

"Yes," Derek replied, moving around the king sized bed. He bent down and gently placed the omega on top of the covers.

"Good," Deaton replied. "Your scent might help comfort him, make him feel a bit more at ease."

As Deaton went back to fiddling with the jars, Derek walked over to his closet. Upon opening it, he pulled down three fluffy blankets from the top shelf. The blankets always made him sweat whenever he used them, but that was because his body tempeture was naturally higher since he was a werewolf. His mate was _human._ They got cold a lot quicker and more often.

Walking back over to the bed, he set the blankets to the side. He grabbed his jacket that was still draped over his mates small body and slowly pulled it away. Derek felt a bit sick seeing again just how thin the small body was. It would be a miracle if he weighed more than 100 pounds.

Deaton's sharp intake of breath startled Derek, causing the werewolf to look towards the older man. Deaton's eyes were wide, focused on the unconsious boy.

"I see you weren't exagerating," the doctor muttered, absentmindedly scratching at his cheek. He looked towards Derek, professional expression in place once more. He vaguelly gestured towards the sleeping boy, adding, "Do you mind?"

"Hm?" Derek frowned, confused, before he realized what the man was refering to. "Oh! Yeah, go ahead." Deaton had just wanted permission to touch his mate. It was always a very unwise idea to touch ones omega without consulting the alpha first. That is, only when two mates have recently found each other. The alphas could get very territirial, and nothing good ever came out of pissing off a newly bonded alpha. Derek had read some horror stories that even frightened _him._ And that was really saying something considering what he did for a job on a daily basis...

Despite his verbal permission, Derek couldn't help but want to let out a low, threatening growl when Deaton laid a hand on the omegas broken leg. Derek knew his hackles would be raised if he was in full wolf form.

"I'm just going to set the bone back in it's place," Deaton said, gently grabbing hold of the leg. "It will start healing once you both give each other the claiming bite. And so will the... _cancer._ However, I can't smell how sick he is like you can. But if it's as bad as you say it is, he's going to need quite a while to heal afterwards. No, he won't be sick anymore, but he's going to be physicaally weak for a while. He'll need lots of rest and vitamins. You'll need to help him do basic things for a while, such as eating and using the bathroom."

The sharp snapping of bone made a growl rumble in Derek's chest, eyes flaring red on their own accord.

"Sorry," Deaton apologized, carefully setting down the leg. "It had to be done, otherwise there was a small chance that is would have healed wrong."

Derek reined in his wolf with a bit of a struggle, nodding in understanding. To take his mind off of the sound of breaking bones ringing in his ears, he clenched his jaw and grabbed one of the blanekts, drapping it over the omegas body. He took his time and carefully tucked the edges in around the small body, pulling the blanket up to just below his chin.

"Add another one," Deaton instructed, pulling a small vial of clear liquid out of his bag, along with an accomanying needle. "If he gets any colder he's going to end up hypothermic."

Derek nodded, laying another warm blanket on top. He suspiciously side-eyed the needle in Deaton's hand, not liking the looks of the pointy object.

"What's that for?"

Deaton flicked the needle once before gripping the omegas upper arm with his free hand.

"It's a serum that will keep his heat at bay for about four months," Deaton responded, inserting the needle into the creamy flesh. He concentrated for a couple of seconds while all the liquid was injected, but sent a serious look towards Derek once he pulled it out. "I need to give him one more shot that acts as a contraceptive. The poor thing hardly has enough nutrients in his body to keep _himself_ going. There is no way his body would be able to sustain another human child or cubs." Deaton got the next shot ready with skilled fingers, injecting that one as well before continuing. "I'm not telling you what you should or shouldn't do with your mate, Derek. I understand that things happen. One things leads to another, and those things can easily lead to mating. It's really up to the both of you and what you guys decide. However, I strongly suggest to hold off on having sex. In all of my years as an omega specialist, I've never seen an omega as sick and weak as him."

"Of course," Derek insisted in a gruff voice. "I, I wouldn't... I'd never even consider sex until he's healthy and well. That's all I want. For him to be ok."

Deaton gave a little smile as he put the needles in a small, plastic container. "I know. And I'm certain he will be. That's why I gave him that heat suppresant. Heats can drain omegas for every ounce of energy they have. That could potentially hinder his recovery process."

"Right," Derek nodded. He couldn't help himself as he slowly brought his hand up to a pale cheekbone dotted with freckles. He softly stroked it with the back of his fingers, his heartbeat thumping out of time just from the simple touch.

"All right. Now it's time for the important part," Deaton said, moving himself off of the bed and dragging his bag with him. He sat down in a white reclining chair in the corner of Derek's room. "It's time for you to bite him, Derek. I know some alphas are territorial when it comes down to this, but I'd like to be in the room at least while you bite him, just in case something should go wrong."

"Ok," Derek replied, acknowledging the man with a brief nod of his head. He made himself comfortable on the bed beside his mate. He laid down on his left side, propping himself up with his arm so he was looking down at the sleeping face.

 _This is it!_ his mind supplied with glee. _You're about to give your mate the claiming bite! You're going to have a mate!_

 _Don't get excited just yet,_ the more rational side of his brain supplied. Oddly, it sort of sounded like Lydia. _He may not even make it through this. Keep your emotions in check for now._

"-rek? Derek?"

Derek blinked hard, bringing himself back to the present. He looked towards Deaton, who was giving him an odd look.

"Derek, time is crucial right now. I suggest you claim him soon before it's too late."

"Of course," Derek replied, voice starting to become rough with emotion. He carefully slipped one hand beneath a small shoulder, moving his hand until it was in the center of the bony back. His other hand went up to cup the back of the omegas neck, gently lifting his head off of the pillow and making sure his neck was bared to Derek.

Derek lowered his face so his nose was right next to the flesh of his mates neck, pulling in a few lungfuls of sweetness mixed with the sour undertones of sickness. Derek softly grazed his lips over the intended marking spot, brushing the smallest of kisses over the smooth area. He let his canine teeth elongate and cut into the flesh of his lower lip. Before he even thought about what he was doing, his mouth was opening on it's own accord, sharp fangs biting into the tender flesh of his mates pale throat.

He felt the briefest surge of their bond within the confines of his chest, but it would not take full effect until the omega bit him back as well.

Derek let out a huff of breath through his nose as he gently unlatched his jaw, easing his teeth out of the puncture wounds on the omegas neck. He allowed himself the pleasure of running his tongue over the thin trail of blood, lapping the red, salty juices up greedily as he held back a small moan. He was sure to run his tongue over his lips and teeth as he pulled back, wanting to swallow down every last drop of the pure, innocent blood.

When his omegas face came into his sight once more, he couldn't help the somber whine that escaped his throat. Though the bonding bite was always said to be a pleasurable experience, his little omega would not know, for he was still unconcsious. The poor thing hadn't even done so much as flinch.

As Derek continued to cradle his mates head in his hand, he lowered his face so he could nuzzle at a soft cheek. His inner wolf whined in distress, wanting it's mate to open his eyes.

Derek cast a look over to Deaton, whom was holding some form of grey powder in a tube.

"What do I do?" Derek asked in a urgent voice. "He... he won't wake up. I was hoping my bite would somehow wake him., but... _God_ , if he dies-"

"There will be no dying on my watch," Deaton interupted in his frustratingly, calm voice. "He'll wake once he gets a whiff of this powder. Trust me, Derek. The most important part has already been done. Your mate will live. You'll just have to be quick about getting him to comply."

Derek gave a sharp nod as he carefully supported the omegas head, tilting it back so Deaton could easily wave the vial in front of his face. Derek's lip curled in disgust as he caught the sharp scent of wolfsbane mixed with some other spicy herb. The smell was enough to make his nostrils burn, so there was no doubt that his little mate would be affected as well.

Sure enough, much to Derek's immense relief, the small nose twitched as thick eyelashes fluttered.

Deaton covered the top of the vial with his thumb as he pulled the tube away. "Try to be as quick as you can. Gently coax him into it. You may need to help him latch on correctly being he's so weak. I'll just be in the other room if you need me."

That said, Derek watched as Deaton swiftly exited the room and shut the door. His inner wolf was pleased that he had left, not wanting anyone else to lay eyes on his mate while the bond was formed.

He nuzzled against a soft cheek once more, a whine escaping his throat.

"C'mon, little one," Derek whispered, holding his breath as he watched the thick eyelashes flutter uncertainly. The moment the eyes blinked open to reveal their beautiful honey-golden hue, Derek felt his heart stop for a few beats. They were slightly out of focus and only half-lidded, but the color just _fit_ his little, precious omega.

The amber eyes blinked blearily a couple of times before they slid to Derek's face. Derek couldn't help the happy, ridiculous grin that stretched itself over his mouth.

"Hello, beautiful," Derek breathed.

His mates perfect little nose crinkled slightly. Derek gently traced his bottom lip with his thumb, pulling it down a fraction to show milky, white teeth.

"You probably know this already, but you're very sick," Derek said softly, his throat threatening to tighten up with his emotions. Amber eyes just blinked at him, giving Derek no indication if he was hearing anything being said. "I'm your alpha, your mate. I promise that I can make you better if you mark my throat. Do you think you can do that for me, baby?"

Derek flinched a little as the endearment left his mouth. He did not want to frighten away his mate when he had just found him, but the name had rolled flawlessly off of his tongue. It felt so _right_ to call him that. His mate. His _baby._

The only answer Derek got was a small huff of breath ghosting across his hand and the slightest movement of the omegas jaw moving, unlocking itself.

 _That's a yes,_ Derek thought to himself, shifting on the bed so he could get a better grip on the omegas neck. With his right hand delicately supporting the back of his mates neck, he used the other hand to cup a soft cheek, using his thumb to help seperate the pretty, red lips.

A small whine escaped the omega's throat as he slowly opened his mouth. Derek wasted no time in leaning down, softly brushing his throat against the open lips.

"C'mon, little one," Derek whispered, feeling hopeful when he felt the pair of blunt teeth clench his skin between them. A few moments passed in silence as the omega tried to clamp down on the skin, giving a soft, unhappy snuffle when he failed to break skin. He started to slowly unhinge his jaw to pull off, but Derek held his head firmly in place with his hand.

"No, don't give up," Derek whispered urgently, coaxing the omega to clamp down once more. "You've almost got it, baby. Just a little harder, okay? I promise that you'll feel a lot better afterwards."

There was a pause in movement for a few moments, but then Derek felt the lightest brush of fingers against his chest. They clumsily latched onto his shirt, not pulling or pushing, just holding the material in small, shaky fingers. Simultaneously, he felt teeth trying to make a claim once more.

"More, more, just a little more," Derek encouraged, feeling the teeth start to break skin. The moment the omegas teeth broke through all the way, Derek's vision went blindingly white for a few seconds. A gasp broke through his lips as a sense of euphoria filled every fiber of his being. It felt as if a hole somewhere in his body had been mended, making him feel perfectly complete for the first time in his life.

His omega went rigid in his arms, fingers tightening in Derek's shirt. Derek was startled for a moment when the omega quickly let go of Derek's neck with his teeth and weakly pushed at the muscled chest. Derek frowned slightly and pulled back from the smaller body, only for him to be seriously alarmed when the omega jerked backwards and twisted his body so he was somewhat on his side, making a terrible, wet coughing noise before throwing up a milky white fluid.

"Deaton!" Derek yelled, throwing a panicked look towards the door when the doctor rushed into the room. He turned his attention back to the omega, whose body was shaking as he continued to dry heave, more fluid spilling onto the blankets every few seconds.

"Why is he vomiting?" Derek asked, hands fluttering uselessly around his mate, not quite sure how to help him. "You promised me he was going to get better."

Deaton knelt down by the side of the bed, a bottle of water in his hand. He gave Derek a pointed look. "This _is_ him getting better. He had to expell the sickness from his body somehow. Sniff the air once, Derek. What do you smell?"

Derek pulled in a few lungfuls of air, getting nothing but the acidic smell of vomit and the soft, mouth-watering scent rolling off of his mate.

And not _one_ trace of a sick smell of any kind. It was gone. It was _all_ gone. Just like that.

Jackson had been right all along.

Derek swallowed thickly. "Nothing. I smell... he's not sick anymore. He's, he's _better._ "

Deaton nodded, satisfied. "Good. That's good."

Derek shifted his focus back to his mate, watching as he weakly rolled onto his back, chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to drag air into his lungs. His eyelashes fluttered tiredly against his cheekbones, like he wanted to stay awake but his body was fighting it.

"Hey now," Deaton spoke up, voice oddly soft. "How about we get you to drink some water, huh?" He cupped the back of the omegas head and tilted it at a comfortable angle. He brought the bottle up to the red lips and tipped it, causing the sleepy amber eyes to open for a moment.

Derek sighed in relief as his mate obediantly swallowed a couple of mouthfuls, letting Deaton know he was done when he closed his eyes and turned his head away. He rested his head on the pillow, his breathing evening out as he quickly fell asleep.

Derek ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath. He reached over and grabbed an extra blanket before carefully pulling the vomit-coated blanket off of his mates body. He threw it on the floor and tucked the omega in once more with the clean one, smiling softly down at the sleeping face. He was glad he had only gotten sick on the one blanket instead of the bed itself. Though he had two other bedrooms, he really didn't want to move him more than he had to.

He looked towards Deaton once more, who was shoving supplies back into his bag.

"Thanks, Deaton," Derek said. "I'm really grateful that you came."

"It wasn't a problem," Deaton replied, slinging his bag over his shoulder, walking over to Derek and handing him a small bottle. "I've done everything I could to help. Now it's up to his alpha."

Derek lips twitched into a smile. He looked down at the bottle and gave it a small shake, asking, "What are these?"

"They're high quality vitamins. That supply will last two months, and I'm hoping he will be doing better by then." Deaton cast a glance towards the sleeping body. "Like I said, Derek. He's going to be really tired and weak for the next few weeks. You'll need to be his hands and feet."

Derek nodded in understanding. "I will. I promise. I'll take a couple of weeks off from work. I won't leave his side."

Deaton smiled. "That's a wise idea. But I also want to bring your attention to one other detail. You can't be certain about how long he was chained up down there with the others. Due to how malnourished he is, I would say quite a while, but we may never know for certain. There's no doubt that all of the omegas there were treated badly, and in some cases I'm sure there was some physical abuse going on."

Derek inhaled sharply as his eyes flickered to his mate. The thought had definitely crossed his mind, but he was hoping that it wasn't true.

"What I'm trying to get at," Deaton continued. "Is that, even though you may be his alpha, try not to make sudden movements around him. If he flinches away from you, just give him some space and use a gentle voice to soothe him. He will more than likely be confused because his body is going to feel a pull towards you, towards his _alpha_ , but his mind might be completely against the idea. Now, I'm not saying that this will one-hundred percent for sure happen. I'm just letting you know what _could_ happen. I don't want you to feel bad if he tries to reject you, or shies away from you. I'm just saying that it's a possibility, and it happens more often than you think to abuse survivors."

"I understand," Derek replied, swallowing thickly at the thought of his mate rejecting him. It made him a bit sick thinking about it, but it's not like he could force the omega to like him right away.

"Oh, one more thing before I go. Don't feed him too much at one time. His body won't be used to it, and he'll more than likely throw it all back up again. So just small portions of food at a time. And going off of that, only feed him food that he doesn't have to chew. Protein shakes, milkshakes, yogurt, applesauce, soup, you know, that kind of stuff. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me. I'll be back in a few weeks to check up on him."

Derek nodded, standing up. He walked over and shook Deaton's hand, saying, "Thanks again, Deaton. Honestly."

Deaton smiled. "Give your parents my best the next time you speak with them."

Derek chuckled. "I will."

With that, Deaton left, leaving Derek alone with his sleeping mate. The alpha bent down and picked up the vomit-covered blanket, quickly carrying it to his laundry room and throwing it in the washer. As he poured some detergent in, he felt a prickly itch under his skin. It gradually turned into a strong pull after a couple seconds, making him have the anxious urge to leave and get back to his mate as quickly as possible. It wasn't wise for newly claimed pairs to be away from each other. Close proximity was best, otherwise there could be horrible repercussions. Either alpha or omega could get very sick, even end up in the hospital. And on rare occasions, death could occur.

Derek growled deeply at the last thought, pushing it out of his mind as he started the washer and rushed back to his bedroom. His wolf wanted to spin in circles with glee as his eyes landed back onto the sleeping face of his mate. If he was in his wolf form, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from jumping up onto the bed, hunkering down next to the small body, and giving him a tongue bath. He felt a deep need to make the omega smell of him and _only_ him. There was still the lingering smell of the other omegas clinging to his skin, along with the mild scent of grime.

"You're going to need a bath tomorow, little one," Derek murmured, stripping out of his jeans so he was left in his boxers and t-shirt. He usually slept in just his underwear, but he wasn't sure how the omega would react to that, so he thought it best to be safe than sorry.

He walked over and turned the bedroom light off, leaving the room completely dark, save for a few rays of moonlight shining in through the window. He made his way over to the bed, lifting the blankets so he could carefully slide in next to his mate. He rolled onto his side so they were facing each other, only six inches of space separating them. As much as Derek had the urge to wrap the smaller body up in his arms, he settled for inching his hand forward and resting just the tips of his fingers on a cold, bony shoulder. He couldn't help but smile ridiculously at the contact, his wolf preening.

He laid there wide awake for an hour or so, just _watching._ Watching his chest rise and fall with each breath, watching his dark lashes flutter every once in a while against creamy cheekbones spotted with beautiful freckles, watching the pretty, red lips twitch now and then, making Derek wonder what he was dreaming about. Hopefully it was something pleasant, and not anything that would give the poor boy nightmares. Fuck, his mate had been _living_ a nightmare for who knew how long. He deserved to rest in a comfortable peace.

Derek let out a small huff as he cautiously scooted a little closer, fingers never leaving the omegas shoulder.

"What's your name, little one?" Derek whispered, not expecting an answer.

 _Stiles,_ his mind supplied. _Jackson said he likes to be called Stiles._

" _Stiles_ ," Derek said quietly to himself, testing the name out on his tongue. He smiled at how right it sounded.

"Well, Stiles. You're going to be just fine." Derek's eyes flickered to where his fingers were touching his mates bare skin, his mouth turning up into a sleepy smile. " _We're_ going to be just fine."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys! I'm so speechless! You're all so very amazing! Like, seriously! The place I live doesn't have wifi, so I have to go to my grandparents house every day to use their wifi for a few hours. And I left right after I posted chapter 2, and when I came back the next day I was shocked seeing over 40 e-mails in my inbox that were all for this fic! I don't even know any of you guys, but every single one of you made me feel all warm and mushy inside! I think I love you people! Will you all marry me?! Lol, just kidding! (....maybe....)
> 
> And on a second note, I've had quite a few people ask me if I will be doing a chapter in Stiles pov. This story was mostly going to be seen through Derek's eyes, so I'm not really sure if I will be doing a Stiles pov chapter. I'm not saying it's a definite no, but I'm not saying it's a yes either. I think it just really depends on where this story goes :)

Derek woke up to sunbeams shining in his face. He blinked hard and turned his face into his pillow, partially blinded by the harsh light. He groaned softly as his fingers absentmindedly rubbed warm flesh.

Warm flesh that wasn't his own.

Derek's eyes widened as his head jerked up from the pillow, his gaze landing on the omega next to him.

Stiles was still sleeping peacefully, his posture a lot more relaxed than it had been the day before. He must have pushed the blanket down in his sleep because his chest and belly were exposed, the blanket rumpled in a heap at his thin waist. His lips were parted, a small trail of drool running down his cheek, making Derek smile softly. He had a strange urge to lick it off.

Derek propped himself up on his elbow so he was staring down at his mate. Moving his other arm, he lightly placed his hand over the omegas heart, pleased to know that the skin was no longer cold. It felt pleasantly warm underneath Derek's fingers.

Sudden movement from the sleeping omega startled Derek, causing him to pull his hand back. His hand just hovered in mid-air as Stiles subconsciously stretched, making a small mewling noise. After a few moments of squirming, he settled once more, sighing.

Derek chuckled softly to himself, using one hand to pull the blankets back over his mates body. Carefully, so as not to jiggle the bed too much, Derek got up. He raised his hands above his head and stretched, feeling satisfaction as the joints in his back popped. His eyes slid to the alarm clock next to his bed, it's sea foam-green numbers showing him it was a 11:17 in the morning.

He didn't know how long Stiles would be asleep for, but there was no doubt that he would be hungry when he woke up. The only non-chewable food Derek had around the house was a few breakfast shakes that he sometimes drank on his way to work, so he was going to need a lot more food options in his fridge. He wasn't just going to leave Stiles alone by himself while he went grocery shopping. First of all, he knew their new bond wouldn't let him go far. Second of all, if the omega happened to wake up while he was gone, Derek didn't want the poor boy to freak out.

Derek let out a long breath, running a hand through his hair. He was going to need someone to go to the store for him. And he knew just who to call.

Derek walked over to the rumpled jeans on the floor from yesterday and fished his phone out of the pocket. He flipped it open and searched for Laura's number, holding it up to his ear as it rang. He quickly stepped out of the room and gently pulled the door shut, not wanting his voice to wake the sleeping beauty.

" _Baby Bro,_ " Laura's teasing voice sounded in his ear. " _To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to you this morning?_ "

Derek smirked. "Hello, Laura. I was just curious if you were working today or not."

" _Aw. Do you wanna spend some quality time with your big sister?_ "

"No," Derek rejected without hesitation. "Last time we had _quality time_ , as you put it, I walked out of your house with my nails painted hot pink and my face full of make-up."

" _Mm, yes, and don't forget how me and Cora made you wear a dress and high heels._ " Derek frowned as Laura cackled through the phone. Why did mom never believe him when he told her Laura was evil?

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again," Derek replied in a hushed tone, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

" _Hm, I don't recall. Maybe you should get your head checked, baby bro._ "

Derek growled lightly, a warning. "Are you busy today or not?" he snapped.

" _Whoa, down boy. I don't go in to work until after three. Why, what's up?_ "

"I found my mate."

 _Way to let it out gently, Derek,_ he thought, mentally kicking himself.

There was dead silence between the two siblings, not even the sound of Laura's breathing ghosted through the phone.

After a full 10 seconds, Derek got a bit worried.

"Laura? Are you there?"

" _...Yeah, yeah, I'm here._ " Laura responded, voice oddly quiet and distant.

"Well, are you--"

" _You found your_ mate," Laura interrupted, this time sounding shocked. " _How? When? Did, did you tell mom and dad?_ "

Derek sighed, leaning his back against the wall and sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. "No, I haven't. Not yet any ways. You're the only one I've told because I just found him yesterday... And I _really_ could use your help. He's... He's in bad shape, Laura."

" _Why? What happened? Derek, tell me what's wrong_ ," Laura said, voice gentle and underlined with worry.

So Derek took a deep breath and told her everything. Told her about the Argent's, about finding Stiles, about Deaton helping him, _everything._

Laura was silent for a few moments before teasing him, saying in a weak voice, " _Wow. I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk, D._ "

Derek smiled weakly but didn't get the chance to reply, Laura interrupting him instead.

" _So you want me to run to the grocery store then?_ "

"Yeah. That would help me a lot," Derek replied, smiling.

" _Kay. I'll be quick._ " That said, she hung up.

"Good," Derek whispered to himself, standing up. He quietly opened the door and his eyes widened in shock.

His mate was _awake._

The omega was still lying on his back and snuggled under the warm covers, but his amber eyes were open and blinking up at the ceiling.

Derek slowly walked towards the bed, not using sudden movements or loud noises. Stiles must have seen him out of the corner of his eye because his heartbeat started thumping furiously, his head turning towards Derek. Wide, amber eyes stared at Derek, unblinking and full of fear.

Derek immediately put his hands up in surrender, shaking his head slowly.

"Hey," Derek all but cooed in a gentle voice. "I'm not going to hurt you, little one. You're ok. You're safe here."

Stiles just blinked at him, not moving.

Derek slowly lowered his hands and took a hesitant step towards the bed. He stopped once Stiles visibly tried to make himself smaller, his whole body a tense line.

Derek ignored the sad whine his wolf gave off, instead asking, "Are you hungry?"

Stiles flinched at his voice and his body started to tremble.

A flash of hurt ran through Derek's body, but he ignored it. This wasn't about him. It was about his mate. Specifically, it was about trying to gain his mates trust. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy journey, but he wouldn't give up.

"I'm going to get you something to eat, ok?"

Derek walked backwards towards the door, not wanting to take his eyes off of Stiles, only turning around when he had to. He hurried to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He grabbed a breakfast shake from the bottom shelf and a small single-serve applesauce cup from the top shelf. He shook the shake with one hand as he grabbed a spoon from the drawer with his other.

"Daily protein intake, essential vitamins," Derek muttered to himself as he read the label on the shake. "Exactly what he needs."

He grabbed the items and walked back to his room, setting the applesauce and spoon on his dresser. He unscrewed the cap on the cold bottle and walked towards the bed with light steps. Stiles just watched him, still trembling, as Derek carefully sat on the edge of the bed.

"Do you think you can drink some of this?" Derek asked in a soft voice. "It's good for you. It's vanilla flavored."

He was a little surprised when the omega gave a small head nod, still staying silent.

Derek smiled at him as he scooted a bit closer, slowly reaching a hand out towards Stiles.

"Is it ok if I lift your head a little? I don't want you to choke."

Stiles nodded once more, his eyes following Derek's hand with a cautious gaze. Derek was sure to keep his movements slow so that he wouldn't frighten Stiles even more. He gently snaked his hand between the back of Stiles' head and the pillow, lifting it at a comfortable angle.

Derek used his other hand to bring the drink to Stiles' lips, watching as they parted for the plastic, giving Derek a glimpse of a small, pink tongue. The sight made his belly swoop.

Stiles' pretty eyes were glued to Derek's face while he took in small mouthfuls of the fluid, the amber orbs large and filled with a look that Derek almost wanted to classify as awe or fascination. Derek thought that is was perhaps because Stiles had just realized that Derek was his mate. There was no doubt that the omega could feel their newly formed bond vibrating beneath his skin, reacting to Derek's inner alpha. His body had stopped trembling, after all. An omegas natural instincts was to soothe them with the smallest touch from their alpha, made to make them feel calm and safe. Derek wasn't 100% sure, but it looked like his touch was making Stiles feel less anxious.

Derek was surprised when Stiles drank half the bottle, but his wolf was very pleased. He needed the nutrients badly.

Stiles let Derek know when he was done by bringing his hand up to Derek's wrist and giving a light push. As the alpha drew his hand back, he couldn't help but smile as a bead of the white fluid dribbled down Stiles' chin. He set the bottle down before reaching up and carefully cupping the omegas jaw, tenderly wiping away the bead of liquid. He carefully placed Stiles' head back on the pillow before letting his hands rest in his lap.

"Do you want some applesauce?" Derek asked.

Stiles slowly shook his head no, licking his lips.

"Are you sure? It's cinnamon flavored."

Derek held back the ridiculous grin that threatened to break across his lips when Stiles eyes lit up at the mention of cinnamon.

"Do you like cinnamon?"

Stiles nodded his head yes, blinking up at Derek.

"Do you want some _now_?"

Stiles licked his lips once more before nodding again.

"Ok," Derek chuckled, grabbing the applesauce and spoon from the small dresser. He quickly ripped the foil off the top and set it down before he stirred the sauce inside the cup. He spooned some up and delivered it to the already open mouth. He repeated the motions a few times until the cup was completely empty.

"Good job," Derek encouraged, setting the spoon and empty cup down. He looked back towards his mate and smiled warmly. "My name is Derek. Derek Hale. And you're Stiles, right?"

He got a small head nod in reply.

"Is that a nickname?"

Another head nod.

"Good, good. You don't have to tell me your real name if you don't want to. I'd understand since I'm a complete stranger to you."

 _He should know what's going on,_ Derek's inner voice hissed. _He probably doesn't remember last night. Hell, he probably doesn't remember the last few weeks if he was unconscious._

Derek swallowed heavily before meeting his mates eyes again. "Do you remember how you got here?"

Derek could see the wheels turning in the omegas head as he thought for a few minutes, looking small and vulnerable as he shook his head no.

"You were being held in the basement of the Argent estate. The Argents have been wanted by the FBI for quite a few years for kidnapping omegas and then selling them to willing buyers. We finally located their whereabouts yesterday, so we broke into their house. The Argents were killed on the spot, and there was a bunch of ambulances and medical crews waiting to get to down to the basement. However, I was the first person to find the omegas, and that was because I could smell you."

Derek could hear the rising tick of Stiles' heartbeat, and it made his wolf antsy.

"I could smell you because you're my... you're my _mate_ ," Derek continued. "I could smell your unique scent, but I could also smell the sickness. _God_ , I thought you were going to _die_." Derek rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, suppressing a shudder that wanted to make it's way through his body at the chilling memory. "So I acted quickly. I picked you up and brought you here, to my home. We exchanged claiming bites, and our bond saved you. It, it _cured_ you."

Derek felt a bit guilty laying out all of the information so soon. Now Stiles face was slightly pale and he looked a bit sick.

"I, I'm sorry. For exchanging bites with you when you weren't aware. That's a shitty thing to do. For all I know, maybe you wanted to reject my bite. Now maybe I just forced our bond on you and, and I didn't mean--"

Derek stopped his distressed rambling when he felt a small, warm hand rest on his bicep. He looked over and connected eyes with amber ones, his body flooding with relief when he didn't find any traces of sadness or disgust. He found warm eyes sparkling with trust and acceptance.

Derek swallowed down the hysterical laugh that wanted to bubble up his throat. Now his omega was trying to comfort _him._

Derek hesitantly brought his hand up and covered Stiles' with his own, feeling quite smug when Stiles didn't pull his hand away.

Derek sighed. "I guess I just want you to know that, that even if we're bonded now, that doesn't mean I expect anything from you. I'm not here to force you into doing things you don't want to do. If you don't feel comfortable with something, don't hesitate to speak up. I'm not like a lot of other alphas. I won't be mad at you for saying no. That's your right, ok? And I'm not going to take that option away from you. All I want is to see you heal and get better, ok sweetheart? I promise that you can trust me. Like I said, you're safe here. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore. They'd have to get through me first."

Derek really wasn't much of a long talker, but seeing the traces of a small smile that tugged on the corner of Stiles' mouth made Derek think it was worth it. Hell, he'd talk for _hours_ if it meant he could see his mate smile.

A knock on the door pulled the two out of their own little world.

Stiles looked panicked for a few moments, but Derek rubbed the back of his hand soothingly.

"It's ok. It's just my sister, Laura. She came with some food. Would you like to meet her? I promise she's not scary."

Stiles hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously nodding his head yes.

Derek smiled and got up from the bed, grabbed his jeans off the floor from yesterday and pulled them on. "We'll just be a minute."

He quickly exited the room and strode to the front door, unlocking it before swinging it open, revealing an out-of-breath Laura. Her brown curls looked a bit wild, some pieces of hair sticking to her blood-red lipstick.

"Hey, baby bro," she huffed, shoving her way past Derek.

"Need I remind you that you're a werewolf?" Derek sneered, closing the door. "You shouldn't be out of breath. Unless you've packed on a few pounds since I saw you last."

"Ha ha, _very_ funny," Laura replied in a dry tone, setting down three big, plastic bags on Derek's kitchen counter. "The day I put on more weight will be the day you shave that _thing_ on your face."

Derek rubbed a hand self-consciously through the scruff on his jaw, glaring daggers at his sister. Why couldn't they ever just have a _nice_ conversation?

"I hate you," he grumbled, watching as she peeled off her leather jacket and dropped it carelessly onto his couch.

"No you don't," she smirked, fluffing her curls so they actually looked half decent. "You _love_ me because I just took time out of my day to go shopping for _you_."

Derek rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, not bothering to reply. She already knew she was right. Why let her have the satisfaction of making him say it?

"Ooh, hello pretty kitty!" Laura purred, bending down as Derek's cat stood and stared at her. It looked at her for a moment before showing it's teeth and hissing, scampering away before either werewolf could blink. Laura straightened back up, the smile falling off of her face as she quietly muttered, "I give you a home and _this_ is what I get..."

Derek held back a snort of laughter.

"So, where is he?" Laura asked in a more serious tone, her eyes shifting around the room as if Stiles was going to pop out of the woodwork.

Derek gestured towards his bedroom. "He's actually awake. He managed to eat a thing of applesauce and drink half a bottle of a breakfast shake. Now I just hope it all stays down."

"Has he said anything?"

Derek shook his head and sighed. "No. He was quite scared when he woke up."

"Well, I don't blame him. He woke up in a strange place with a strange man."

Derek ignored the jab. "I _did_ manage to calm him down a bit, though."

"Derek," Laura hissed, eyes flaring red. "Tell me you did _not_ go alpha on the poor thing."

"What? No! _Jesus_ , I, I would _never_ \--"

"Ok, I believe you," Laura interrupted, holding up her hands in defeat. She sighed and massaged her temples with nimble fingertips. "I just... you saw how Isaac was when Peter--"

"Yeah," Derek spoke up, the memory making him shudder. "That's why I didn't. I wouldn't be able to handle it if my mate was afraid of me."

"So how did you calm him then?"

Derek shrugged. "I just used a calming voice. I told him he was safe here and that nobody would hurt him. Once he realized I was his alpha he relaxed a lot. I, I asked him if he wanted to meet you and he nodded his head yes. But don't expect him to talk or anything. And _please_ for the love of god, don't frighten him."

Laura flicked her hair casually over her shoulder. "Baby bro, despite whatever horror film monster you compare me to in that little head of yours, I'm not _that_ scary. I know when to be gentle."

"Yeah, right," Derek snorted, earning himself an elbow to the ribs. "Just follow me," he grumbled, leading the way to his bedroom.

He slowly walked in with a gentle smile on his face, Laura in tow. Derek walked over to the side of the bed while Laura just stood at the end of it.

"Stiles, this is my sister, Laura. Laura, this is Stiles."

Stiles just blinked at her through his thick lashes, his fingers tightening slightly in his blanket. Derek could smell the salty fumes of anxiety starting to mingle with Stiles normally sweet smell. He knelt down on the floor beside the bed and reached out with a hand, gently resting his fingers on Stiles' wrist. He was pleased when the anxious smell slowly started to evaporate.

Derek's eyes slid to Laura, noticing how she was just standing there, absorbing the sight of Stiles with her hazel eyes. No wonder why Stiles had gotten so nervous.

" _Laura_ ," Derek hissed, feeling a bit smug when her body jerked, eyes looking wild and frazzled. She composed herself quickly, turning back to Stiles and giving him a big, toothy grin.

"Hi! I'm Laura! Just like he said," she spoke, pointing a finger at Derek. "And my, my, my. Derek wasn't joking when he told me how much of a _cutie_ you were."

"Laura!" Derek gasped, cheeks heating up.

"What?" she asked, looking at him with wide, innocent eyes. "You're the one who said it."

Derek groaned and shut his eyes. Why was this his life? _Why_?

The smallest giggle made his eyes pop open. He swiveled his head to stare at Stiles, shocked to see him looking at Laura with a small smile on his face. Derek was almost sure he had completely made up the giggle in his head, but one look at Laura's smug face made him realize that it had been real. Stiles had laughed.

Stiles had actually _laughed._

 _Fuck,_ it had been the best noise Derek had ever heard.

Stiles' giggle had been light, almost carefree. Like a gentle breeze. Yup, that was definitely it. If a gentle breeze sounded like anything, then it sounded like Stiles' laugh.

Christ, he had been with his mate less than 24 hours and he was already becoming a complete and utter sap.

"If you think _that's_ funny, wait until I tell you all of Derek's embarrassing stories," Laura winked, inching closer to the other side of the bed. "Like the one time when Derek was at basketball camp--"

"Ok, Laura. That's enough!" Derek interrupted quickly. "Let's not overwhelm him."

Laura gave him a pouty face as she plopped herself down comfortably next to Stiles. She clucked her tongue in disapproval.

"He's just scared that I'm going to make him look stupid in front of you," she insisted, peeking at Stiles through the corner of her eye. "What he doesn't know is that he does a good job of that on his own."

Stiles let out another giggle, and Derek felt like he was going to burst from the happiness that was bubbling inside of him.

"Stiles," Derek spoke up, causing the omega to turn his attention away from Laura. "Do you think you're up to taking a bath? You've got a lot of different smells on your skin and... and it's confusing my wolf."

Stiles regarded him with a cautious gaze, but nodded his head yes, wiggling under the covers as he tried pushing them down.

Derek stopped his movements with the gentle pressure of his hand against Stiles' chest.

"You can relax with Laura for a few minutes. I'll go and run the water." His thumb absentmindedly stroked over bare skin. "You're still very weak right now. Would you like me to help you clean up? Or... or would you prefer Laura to help you?"

Laura's eyes flickered to Derek in surprise, but she didn't object. She just smiled at him. However, her acceptance wasn't needed, for Stiles chose Derek by gently poking at his jean-clad leg.

"All right. Be right back." With that, Derek walked into the master bathroom and over to the tub. He quickly plugged the drain before running the water. He sat back on his heels and debated whether or not he should pour in some bubble bath. In the end, he decided it to be a good idea. The bubbles would provide Stiles some privacy so he wouldn't have to feel quite as exposed to the alpha.

He stood up and jerked open the small closet filled with towels, washcloths and other various bathroom supplies. He pulled out two towels and set them on the lid of the toilet seat. His hand hovered uncertainly over a hot pink loofah that Cora had bought him as a gag gift one year for Christmas, but he just glared at it before grabbing a washcloth instead, placing it with the towels.

He walked back out of the bathroom and over to his dresser, absentmindedly listening to his sister talk Stiles' ear off while he grabbed the smallest pair of boxers he owned. He also grabbed a thick pair ot white socks and a pair of grey sweatpants that were too small for him. Holding the clothes in one arm, he walked over to his closet and opened it, quickly grabbing a warm, red hoodie.

After depositing the clothes into his bathroom, he joined the other alpha and omega on the bed. Laura was going on about her job and other various things that Derek classified as boring. He supposed he was just lucky that she wasn't telling Stiles any embarrassing stories about him.

"Laura," Derek interrupted, earning himself an uninterested glance from his sister. "Could you do me a favor and throw all my bedding into the wash while I'm helping him bathe?"

"Sure thing, baby bro," she replied, giving Stiles one last toothy grin before getting up from the bed. "I'm gonna go put some of the groceries in your fridge really quick."

Derek nodded, watching as she exited the room. He turned his attention back to Stiles, who was already looking at him with a look that Derek couldn't quite place.

"You ready?" Derek asked.

Stiles blinked and nodded, slowly shoving the covers off of his body. A small blush formed on his pale cheeks as the blanket fell away from his lower regions, but Derek didn't give him a chance to feel embarrassed or ashamed about being naked in front of him. He quickly just scooped the omega up into his arms, holding him securely as he trained his eyes on Stiles' face.

The omega let out the most adorable squeak at the sudden movement, winding his arms around Derek's neck on reflex. He looked bashfully into Derek's eyes, which were now only separated by a few inches.

Derek swallowed thickly, his feet leading him towards the bathroom. "You don't have to feel embarrassed in front of me, Stiles. Being naked is a completely normal thing. It's nothing to be ashamed about." Derek left it at that as he pushed the door shut with his foot.

Derek was going to set him down in the tub, but he caught sight of the longing look that Stiles was sending the toilet.

"Oh," Derek said dumbly. Why hadn't he thought to ask Stiles about using the toilet before? "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Stiles sent him a pleading look and nodded his head yes.

"Do you want to sit down?"

Stiles surprised the alpha by whispering, "yes."

Derek brushed the towels off the toilet and onto his clean floor with the push of his foot, lifting the lid with his toe before carefully placing Stiles onto the seat.

"I'm gonna turn around, ok? You can grab the side of the counter if you need some support." With that, Derek quickly turned around to give Stiles a bit of privacy. He picked the towels up from the floor and set them on the little table next to the bathtub.

His hearing picked up the soft tinkling of piss hitting the toilet water, making him feel better knowing that Stiles' bladder was being emptied. He busied himself with turning off the faucet for the bathtub and dipping his hand under water, making sure it wasn't too hot or too cold. Satisfied with it's temperature, he reached over and grabbed the washcloth, setting it on the side of the tub.

When the tinkling sound tapered off, Derek slowly turned around and kept his eyes on Stiles' face.

"You done?" he asked, glad when Stiles nodded his head yes. He shuffled forward and lifted him back up before flushing the toilet with his foot, only taking a few steps before slowly setting him down in the bubbly water. Derek wasn't completely sure, but he was almost positive that Stiles enjoyed the bubbles going by the small, bright glint in his amber eyes.

Derek knelt down onto the fuzzy carpet in front of tub and grabbed hold of the washcloth. He dipped it into the warm water and got it wet as he grabbed a bar of soap with his other hand. Pulling the cloth out of water, he lathered it with soap and cast an uncertain glance towards Stiles.

The omega had his head resting against the wall, his eyes half-lidded and staring up at Derek's face. He looked very relaxed, and as far as Derek could tell, his mate _smelled_ content as well.

"Stiles, would it be all right if I washed you?" Derek asked, keeping his voice soft.

Stiles licked his bottom lip with his tongue and nodded his head.

Derek smiled. "Don't fall asleep on me now," he teased, receiving a small, sleepy smile in return. He started to wash the creamy skin of Stiles' chest in small circles, gradually making his way up his arms and neck. He carefully cleaned the omegas face, making sure to wash away the soap quickly before it got in his eyes.

As he got to the lower regions of Stiles' body, he made sure to mindlessly chatter about random things so Stiles wouldn't feel so nervous about being touched there. Needless to say, it went well. Stiles was quiet the entire time, just staring at Derek, but Derek counted that as a good sign. It was better than Stiles reeking of fear.

The last thing he did was wash Stiles' hair. He was more than happy to tangle his fingers in the brown hair and lather it with his own shampoo. Stiles seemed to like it too, for he had closed his eyes and let out a small mewl, which caused another ridiculous grin to stretch itself across Derek's lips. He repeated the process with conditioner, making sure to massage the omegas scalp. Derek was almost sad when the whole process was over. It had felt so natural to take care of his mate like that.

"You ready to get out?" Derek asked.

Stiles blinked sleepily and nodded.

"Ok." Derek reached for one of the towels on the counter and unfolded it, holding it open. "Can you hold your arms out? I'll be able to lift you out then."

Stiles slowly lifted his arms out of the water, bubbles clinging to his skin, and held them out to Derek like he was waiting for a hug. Derek wrapped the towel around his upper body, being careful not to dunk it in the water, and pulled Stiles up.

"I'm gonna set you back on the toilet seat, ok? I just need to grab your clothes."

He then set Stiles down, not caring that water was dripping all over his bathroom floor. He could clean it up later. For now, he just wanted to get some clothes on Stiles before he got cold.

He grabbed the sweater from the counter and draped it over his shoulder. Next, he grabbed the other towel and started to dry Stiles' hair and face, all the while Stiles just sat there obediently. Derek worked his way down Stiles' chest, arms and waist before finally helping the omega slip the sweater on over his head. It was ridiculously big on him. It went a good few inches past the tips of his fingers, and part of it slipped down the side of a creamy shoulder. Derek made a mental note to take Stiles shopping for clothes as soon as he regained his strength.

Next he dried Stiles' legs before he hoisted him up by the waist and carefully wiped down Stiles' nether regions. Stiles fingers curled around Derek's shoulders, tightening a bit when Derek dipped the towel in between his cheeks, but they loosened up again once Derek finished. The alpha set him down once more, kneeling in front of him and helping get a pair of underwear up his legs. Despite being a bit big, they fit nicely. Derek continued the process by pulling sweatpants up Stiles' thighs, tying the drawstring to keep them up. He finished the look by rolling on a pair of warm socks.

As Derek sat back on his heels, his wolf rumbled with satisfaction. Stiles was clean, fully dressed in Derek's clothes and absolutely _drenched_ in Derek's scent. It pleased his wolf immensely.

"Are you tired? Do you wanna go back to sleep?" Derek asked, resting a hand lightly on Stiles' knee.

The omega thought for a few seconds before shaking his head no.

Derek cocked his head to the side as he thought of something fun the omega could do. He rarely spent time doing anything by himself in his home. He was at work more often than not. There was just something about spending time by himself at home that was just too lonely, so he really didn't have anything exciting to do.

"Hm, do you want to watch TV?" Derek suggested. He may not have had anything exciting to do in his home, but at least he had cable. To his delight, Stiles nodded at his suggestion. Without another thought, Derek scooped him up once more, enjoying the feel of the small, warm body against his own.

Derek carried him through the bedroom and into the living room, walking over to the soft, white couch sitting in front of a flat screen TV. He deposited Stiles onto the couch and grabbed the remote, plopping himself down next to his mate. He left a few inches of space between them so as not to make the omega nervous. Sure, Derek had just carried him when he was completely naked, but that was out of necessity. He wanted to show Stiles that he wasn't like other alphas, that he could control his own actions and that he didn't _need_ to be touching Stiles 24/7. The fact that he _wanted_ to touch Stiles, though, was whole other ordeal...

He grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and turned the TV on. He then set the remote on the couch between them.

"You can pick whatever channel you want to watch. I'm just gonna go and make some lunch, ok?"

Derek stood up and waited a few seconds for Stiles to answer, but the omega was too busy looking at the remote like he had never seen one before in his life.

 _Maybe he_ hasn't _seen one before_ , he thought in horror.

 _Don't be stupid,_ the Lydia sounding voice reasoned. _If he said yes to watching TV, then he's obviously been around one before._

That's when Derek realized that he literally knew _nothing_ about his mate. Yeah, he'd only been with him for less than 24 hours, but that was enough time to learn the basics, such as if he had a family, or where he lived before he was kidnapped, or even what his favorite damn color was. The only thing he really knew about him was that he seemed fairly skittish and quiet, which given the circumstances in which Derek had found him, he had good reason to be.

Giving a casual sniff to the air, Derek could smell anxiety starting to form. He quickly sat back down and picked up the remote. Stiles looked a bit startled at the sudden movement and he shrank back a little, but Derek ignored the small ache Stiles' actions brought upon him and instead gave him a soft smile.

"Sorry, I suppose I should show you how to use it," Derek said smoothly. He turned the remote to face Stiles and pointed at a small, yellow button. "This is the Guide' button. If you press it, then a big list comes onto the screen to show you what's playing right now." He pressed the button and a dark blue screen appeared, naming a few shows and movies that were playing. "Then you just use these arrow button to scroll up or down to look at more. Let's see, you could watch the news, the home and garden channel, ghost stories, Spongebob--"

Derek stopped listing off the shows when Stiles made a soft noise, causing him to look over at the omega. His amber eyes sparkled with interest and his fingers were tightly clutching his sweatpants.

Derek grinned. "Do you want to watch Spongebob?"

Stiles didn't hesitate to nod his head yes, eyes glued to the television.

"All right." Derek pressed 'ok' on the remote, and the talking sponge filled the screen. Derek felt a bit nostalgic listening to the cartoon. He used to watch it all the time as a kid. Oh, hell, he _still_ watched it as an adult sometimes.

He set the remote down next to Stiles' leg and got up, walking over to where his sister was standing by the fridge. She was busy shoving some food onto shelves, crumpling the plastic bags into balls once they were empty.

"I threw your blankets and sheets in the wash," she said as she turned around, throwing the plastic ball at Derek's face. He frowned as it bounced off his forehead, but he refrained from giving her the same treatment. He was more of a gentleman than that.

"Thank you," he replied, picking the bag up from the floor and setting it on the counter. "I owe you big time."

"Yeah you do," Laura grinned. She picked up something off of the counter behind her and held out her hands to Derek, shoving a toothbrush at Derek. "I thought you might not have an extra one for him, so I bought one just in case."

"Good thinking," he replied. He honestly hadn't even thought about a toothbrush.

Laura shifted her gaze over to where Stiles sat on the couch. "I like him, Der," she said quietly. "I think he'll be good for you."

Derek smiled softly and ran a hand through his hair. "I know. He will be. I... I feel incredibly lucky to have found him and, and to have _saved_ him in time." He looked back over at Stiles with a lazy smile on his face. However, his pleased expression changed to one of shock as his eyes landed on his mate.

"What?" Laura asked. "Derek, what?"

He just blinked a few times before grabbing her jaw, swiveling her face to look where he was looking.

"What the fuck?" Laura blurted as she spotted what he was seeing.

The two siblings watched dumbfounded as Derek's cat slowly crept along the floor by the couch. It froze in it's tracks when Stiles let out a small giggle at the TV, but proceeded to jump up onto the piece of furniture when it realized there was no real threat. It slowly crept along the cushion until it was next to Stiles' hand, sticking his head out and sniffing it.

Stiles visibly flinched when he felt the cats nose, but Derek was surprised when the cat wasn't scared by the movement. In fact, after giving Stiles a few more sniffs, he plopped himself down on his bottom and stared up at the omega with it's beady little eyes. The cat and omega held eye contact for a good minute, sizing each other up, before Stiles hesitantly brought a hand up to softly pat it's head.

Derek damn near shit his pants when his cat took that as his cue to curl up in a ball in Stiles' lap and _purr._ His cat did _not_ purr. In fact, his cat did nothing but glare and hiss and yowl at the top of it's lungs. He was supposed to be _evil_ ,for gods sake. Seeing this happy, purring cat in Stiles lap felt _so weird._

"Are we dreaming?" Laura whispered. "Because I'm pretty sure your cat is supposed to be an asshole."

Derek rolled his eyes. "And you gave him to me _why_?"

"Cuz you're an asshole. I thought you two would get along great," she responded, not even pretending to be nice. "But now it looks like he made a best friend." Then Laura looked at Derek with an evil smirk on her face. "Hm. Maybe Stiles isn't into wolfs. Perhaps cats are more his thing."

Derek elbowed her hard in the ribs, feeling satisfied with the pained _oomph_ that she let out.

"That's my mate you're talking about," he hissed. He looked back at Stiles and he felt his heartstrings tug. The sight of his mate gently stroking the purring cat was probably the cutest thing he had ever seen.

When he looked back at Laura, he was alarmed at the serious look she was casting the oblivious omega. "What?" Derek asked, poking at her arm.

Laura swallowed hard and looked at him. "He looks no older than a teenager, Derek. Someone has got to be missing him. Hell, if he was my kid I would miss him..."

Derek nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know. It's just... I don't want to pressure him into talking. I want him to feel comfortable enough to talk to me on his own accord. Until then, I'm not going to pry for information."

"Good thinking," Laura murmured, though still looking a bit upset. Her phone beeped with an incoming message, which made her sigh. "That'll be Sarah wanting me to come in to work early."

"Well, thanks again," Derek replied, giving her a smile.

She smiled in return and stood on her tippy toes, planting a wet kiss on his cheek. "See ya, baby bro." She quickly grabbed her jacket and shrugged it on before walking over to the couch and saying cheerfully, "Bye Stiles! It was lovely to meet you!"

Stiles gave her a shy wave of the hand before she flounced out the door, her hair swishing wildly. The sound of the door closing echoed loudly in Derek's ears, reminding him just how alone he was with his omega. A part of him felt giddy with excitement to have him all to himself, but the other part of him, the more _reasonable_ part of him, told him to hold back his enthusiasm. Too much could frighten Stiles, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Derek just stood and watched Stiles be entertained by the TV, scratching behind the cats ears every so often. He smiled to himself, wondering what exactly it was about the boy that made the cat instantly like him. Perhaps the grumpy thing saw what Derek's wolf saw in Stiles. Or maybe it was just the fact that Stiles couldn't turn into another animal like Derek could. After all, dogs and cats were always said not to get along very well.

Derek cocked his head to the side in thought, wondering how Stiles would react to his wolf form. Maybe Stiles would be less skittish around his wolf. Or maybe it would frighten him even more. There was really only one way to find out, but he didn't want to overwhelm the omega more than he already was.

With a small sigh, Derek started digging around in his fridge for some lettuce, cheese, carrots and leftover chicken he had from the other night. He quickly whipped together a small salad sprinkled with small pieces of chicken. He grabbed the ranch dressing and poured a small amount on top of the salad.

"Stiles?" Derek spoke up. The omega jumped a little, making Derek feel guilty, but gave his attention to the alpha any ways. "Are you hungry? Do you want some lunch?"

Derek was almost sure he would say no considering he had just ate a little over an hour ago, but the omega slowly nodded his head yes.

"All right. What do you want? Let's see, we've got soup, pudding, ice cream, I could make you a smoothie--"

"Soup?" Stiles asks in a small voice, a little hoarse from lack of use.

Derek smiles. "Yeah. We've got chicken noodle soup, roasted chicken and vegetable soup--

"Chicken noodle!" Stiles piped up, cheeks turning a beautiful shade of pink for blurting it out.

"Chicken noodle it is," Derek said, giving his mate a handsome grin. He turns towards the kitchen and busies himself with heating up the soup up over the stove. While it warms up, he grabs a bottle of water and a pitcher of grape juice from the fridge, pouring a glass half full of the sweet juice. Once the soup was steamy and warm, he poured it into a white bowl and carried it over to the coffee table.

Stiles wiggled a little bit on the couch, causing the cat to get up and glare at Derek before scampering off. Stiles went to reach for the bowl with shaky hands, but Derek stopped him, gently wrapping a hand around Stiles' wrist.

"I can help you, Stiles," Derek said, holding eye contact with the omega. "Just get comfortable while I go and get my food."

Stiles just blinked at him and sat back, lowering his hands when Derek let go. The alpha quickly walked over to the counter and grabbed his salad, the water bottle and the glass of juice, returning quickly to the couch.

He helped Stiles drink a little bit of juice, watching the omegas throat as it worked to swallow the liquid. He then settled down comfortably next to Stiles, giving him little spoonfuls of the warm broth. The noodles and chicken in the soup were soft enough that they didn't require chewing, so Stiles was able to easily swallow them without any difficulty.

Once Derek had fed him about half of the bowl, Stiles didn't want anymore. He drank a little bit more juice but Derek could tell Stiles was getting tired by the way his eyelids were starting to droop. Before Derek could even finish eating his own salad, he felt the soft weight of Stiles head rest against his shoulder. Derek froze for a moment, thinking that perhaps Stiles was warming up to him a little. However, that thought went out the window when he heard the slow, steady beat of his mates heart, letting him know that he had simply fallen asleep.

Derek chuckled lowly as he set his empty bowl down. He shifted his body a little, moving into a different position so Stiles' neck wasn't at such a harsh angle. He carefully wrapped an arm around Stiles' waist and pulled him more firmly against his side. He couldn't help but smile softly down at the sleeping boy. He brought his free hand up to lightly caress a sharp cheekbone, slowly dragging the back of his knuckles across the soft flesh.

It was amazing how peaceful Stiles' face was when he was sleeping. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Derek thought it was a much better improvement than seeing the tense look of fear on his face. He hoped that one day Stiles wouldn't be afraid of anything anymore. He deserved to be happy after what he had lived through.

Derek hesitantly placed a small kiss to the top of Stiles head before settling down to continue watching the Spongebob marathon. That was really how the rest of the day went. Stiles dozed on and off, Derek helped him use the bathroom a few times and fed him a little more. Derek also made a call to Lydia, telling her that he would be using some of his vacation time to take care of his mate.

At first, Lydia had been a bit livid that he hadn't told her in advance, but once he explained what had all happened, she seemed to soften up. She even gave him paid time off, which honestly surprised him. Lydia was such a hard ass when they were at work. To know that she had a hidden soft side seemed completely foreign to him. In the end, he was just really grateful.

Once it got dark outside, Derek carried the sleeping boy to his bedroom and deposited him on the bed. He quickly changed into some flannel pajama pants before crawling in next to him, draping the blankets over both of them.

He didn't fall asleep right away. He laid awake for a while, just watching Stiles sleep and breathe. He grinned ridiculously to himself when Stiles shifted closer to him in his sleep. It may have just been the omega instincts reacting to Derek's alpha instincts, but Stiles had still _moved closer._ In Derek's book, that was a win. And he was positive that there would be many more wins in the future, but for now, he just wanted to focus on one thing at a time.

Current project: Gain Stiles' trust.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Over 10,000 hits! Thank you all for your wonderful comments and your show of support!
> 
> Heh, on an unrelated note, I just figured out this week that my aunt reads gay fanfiction on AO3. Like, detailed gay fanfiction. Like, literally some of the same awesome fics that I've read. And in my excitement I was just going to ask her what some of her favorite parts were in our mutually favorite stories, but then I caught myself at the last moment. I knew she would have asked me the same, and I really didn't want to go into explicit detail about how I love reading about Derek pounding Stiles' ass so hard that he can't walk the next day. There are just some things that I don't talk about with family members, but she totally knew what I was thinking anyways. We just sort of mutually gave each other the 'I know what you read at night' look and then awkwardly started a different conversation. Ha, what is my life? *Dies of embarrassment*

The next week and a half pretty much played out the same way, minus his sister coming over and embarrassing the ever living piss out of him. He helped Stiles get around the house, he helped him eat, he helped him with simple things, such as tying the string on his sweatpants. Derek knew he was maybe going a little overboard with all the help he was giving Stiles. Stiles was his mate. It was Derek's natural instinct to provide Stiles with whatever he needed. However, he knew that Stiles would need to start doing things by himself sooner rather than later.

That's how he found himself kneeling in front of Stiles, who was sitting quietly on the couch and shooting Derek a peculiar look. The alpha just sent him a small smile as he lifted Stiles' left leg up did a few therapeutic stretches with it to try and get the blood flowing and warm the muscles up. He worked the leg for a good five minutes or so before giving Stiles' right leg the same treatment.

"All right, Stiles," Derek said as he stood up. "We're gonna try and get you walking again. Your legs will probably be sore after a few minutes, but a few minutes is all we need to start getting you back on your feet." Derek gave a little snort before adding, "Pun intended."

Stiles didn't look impressed.

Derek just blinked and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He knew his jokes weren't the talk of the town, but sheesh. Tough crowd.

"Right, ok," Derek mumbled. He grabbed Stiles' smaller hands in his own and carefully pulled him up so he was standing. His legs were a little bit shaky, but Derek counted it as a good sign that he was standing on his own.

"Do you feel any pain?" Derek asked, becoming slightly distracted by the soft, sweet smell of Stiles' hair inches away from his nose. He resisted the urge to lean forward and bury his face in it.

"No," Stiles answered in a quiet voice, squeezing Derek's hands a little tighter.

That was something that had somewhat improved over the past week. Instead of the wordless answers that Stiles had given him at first, he started answering with his voice. Yes, they were mostly one-word answers, but that was definitely progress.

"Ok, great," Derek replied. He took a big step backwards, still holding Stiles' hands in his own. "All right, Stiles. Can you take a small step forward?"

Stiles didn't answer. He just looked down at the ground with a look of concentration and slowly shuffled one foot forward.

Derek smiled. "Yeah, just like that! Now try the other leg."

Stiles did as instructed, his movements slow but sure. Derek felt pride swelling in his chest. Just a week ago Stiles' leg had been completely broken. To see Stiles walking, well, more like hobbling on it, brought an odd feeling of relief to Derek.

They continued their little practice for a few more minutes, walking back and forth on the nice wood floors. Then Derek decided he should probably let Stiles try and walk on his own without holding Derek's hands. So he let go and back up a few steps.

A small flicker of fear shone in Stiles eyes as he looked at Derek in panic.

"Hey, you're all right Stiles. I'm right here. I won't let you fall," Derek soothed.

Stiles just looked at him with wide eyes before his jaw slightly clenched. He blinked a few times before his amber eyes filled with a look of pure concentration. Derek's inner wolf wagged it's tail at the show of determination.

To help balance himself, Stiles held his hands out at his sides. He then took a slow step forward, lifting his foot impressively off the floor. He flexed his toes before doing the same with the other foot. Derek's heartstrings tugged at the small smile that flickered across Stiles' lips.

All went well for a few more steps, Stiles gradually making his way towards Derek's outstretched, awaiting arms. Even though he was moving along nicely, Stiles' right leg gave out, not used to so much exercise. Before he could hit the floor, Derek was up in his space, wrapping one arm around the slim waist and another underneath Stiles' armpits.

A whoosh of breath left Stiles' mouth as Derek caught him, blowing across the alphas cheek. He kneeled down on the floor, Stiles still gathered in his arms. He leaned back a little to look into Stiles' eyes with a worried expression, gently cupping a cheek with his hand.

"Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?" Derek asked in a voice that oozed concern.

Stiles blinked large eyes at him, but replied in a shaky voice with. "No... No, I'm fine."

"Thank god," Derek whispered, rubbing small circles on Stiles' back. He also took the opportunity to drain Stiles' pain. There really wasn't much pain, exactly, but there was the beginnings of a deep soreness that he was drawing out.

He carefully deposited Stiles onto the couch and sat down next to him, holding one of his hands. "I think that's enough exercise for one day. You did so good, though, Stiles. We can do a little more tomorrow." Ok, Derek knew he was totally being a mama bear, but he just didn't want to see his little cub get hurt after doing so well.

Stiles nodded his head in understanding. He looked up from his lap and gave Derek a little smile. "Thanks."

"How about we eat some ice cream and watch tv, huh? You deserve a reward for doing so well."

Stiles looked up at Derek through his thick lashes and batted them playfully, giving Derek's hand a gentle squeeze.

Derek held back a groan. He knew where this was going. Stiles wanted a piece of the chocolate cake that was sitting in the cake pan on Derek's counter. Usually Derek had a lot of self control, but a few days ago when Stiles had spotted Derek eating a slice of it, the omega had given him a look. Derek wasn't even sure how to describe what that look had looked like. All he knew was that it did certain things to certain body parts of his.

He knew Deaton had specifically told him not to feed Stiles any solid food, but he couldn't help it. That look just did things to him. Him and his wolf. Needless to say, he had caved quickly. And the look on Stiles face when he had eaten it was completely worth it. God, the omega had Derek wrapped around his little finger.

Derek sighed, but smiled affectionately. "You want some cake and milk?"

Stiles full on grinned at him in response, which caused Derek to chuckle.

"All right," Derek replied. He started to get up, but Stiles held onto his hand. He looked at the omega and rose an eyebrow. "Oh, did you want to eat at the counter?"

Stiles vigorously nodded his head yes. Derek scooped him up in his arms and brought him over to the counter, setting him on a tan, wooden barstool with a white cushion on it. He then proceeded to grab two plates and cups from the cupboard, as well as two forks and a knife from the drawer. He opened the cake pan and cut two generous slices, dishing them out and setting them on the plates. He slid one over to Stiles' awaiting hands before grabbing the milk from inside the fridge and pouring them each a glass. After putting the milk and cake away, he made his way around the counter and plopped down right next to his mate.

Stiles had already dug into the cake, chewing rapidly while making small noises of pure happiness. Derek held back a laugh as he saw chocolate frosting and a few sprinkles sticking to Stiles' lips. He grabbed a paper towel and reached over to Stiles, wiping the sweet food from his lips. He just glanced at Derek from the side of his eye before continuing to shovel another forkful in his mouth.

"Don't eat it too quickly, Stiles," Derek interjected, taking a small swig of milk. "I don't want you to choke."

Derek could see Stiles think about his words for a few seconds before he started to chew a little slower. He then copied Derek and took a small drink of milk. Satisfied, Derek turned back to his cake and ate it quickly with a wolfish appetite.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on his door. Stiles sent him a quizzical look, but Derek smelt the sudden spike of fear starting to cloud the air.

"Shh, it's ok," Derek said to the omega, rubbing a soothing hand down his bony back. He allowed his wolf to let out a calming rumble. It took effect immediately, Stiles' body going lax under Derek's hand, the acrid smell of fear retreating quickly. Derek smiled to himself, taking a chance and running his fingers through Stiles' soft hair. "Eat your cake, sweetheart," he encouraged, walking towards the door.

He didn't usually get many visitors, so he couldn't really picture who was standing on the other side of his door. He doubted it was his neighbor, Danny. Though they were always friendly enough with each other, they were hardly more than acquaintances.

Derek gripped the doorknob, his guard up, and pulled it open, only to reveal his parents standing on the other side of the door. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Darling!" his mother exclaimed, moving forward and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Mom?" Derek asked, more out of shock than anything. He glanced back and forth between both his parents' smiling faces. "What are you guys doing here?"

His father chuckled deeply. "Derek, we own this building. It would be a bit odd if we didn't drop by every once in a while to check on things."

Derek sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know that. I mean what are you doing here? At my door."

His mom and dad snuck a peek at each other before looking back at him with almost nervous looking smiles on their faces.

"We... well, we heard from your sister that... that you found your mate?" Talia replied, her response sounding more like a question.

Derek clenched his jaw in anger. Of course Laura would open her big mouth. He was obviously planning on telling his parents at some point, but he wanted to do so on his own terms. He wanted Stiles to be more comfortable in his own skin first before he overwhelmed him with more people.

"I'm going to kill her," Derek rumbled, letting out a small growl.

"Derek," Talia said. "Sweetheart. Why didn't you tell us? I know we can be overbearing sometimes, but you're our little boy! We want to know when big things like this happen in your life."

Derek just sighed at his mothers coddling and rubbed his eyes with his palms. "Mom, I'm twenty-six years old, for god sakes. I will tell you things on my own time, when I'm ready to tell you."

"We were just curious," his father, Marcus, chimed in. "And we wanted to meet the little fellow. You know, welcome him to the family."

Derek sighed once more, this time sharply. "How much did Laura tell you guys exactly? What do you know about him?"

"We know that he's a boy, he's human, his name is Stiles, and he's 'super cute,' to quote Laura," Talia said, ticking each point off on her fingers.

Derek leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, giving them a sarcastic smile. "Did she also happen to mention that I found him chained up in the basement of the Argent estate, that he's severely malnourished, he hardly talks at all, and that he's pretty much afraid of everything?"

He felt a bit bad about his outburst after it happened. His mothers skin was a few shades paler, and it looked like nausea was swimming in her brown eyes. His dad just looked downright startled, his hands fluttering uselessly at his sides, not quite sure what to do.

"Ok, I guess that was a bit of an over exaggeration," Derek bit out. "He's not afraid of everything. I managed to gain a bit of his trust over the past week. That's an improvement."

"Oh, Derek," Talia whispered, putting a hand over her heart and clutching at the dark-green material of her dress. "That's... That's horrible."

Derek nodded his head, the anger slowly melting from his body until he just felt tired.

"Is it..." Marcus started to say, but stopped for a second to gather his thoughts. He took a breath before continuing. "Is it as bad as it was with Isaac?"

Derek shook his head no. "Thankfully, no. He actually seems to be warming up to me." Derek scratched at the back of his head. "I, uh, I know that you want to meet him. I get that. But... I got lucky that he liked Laura. I just want to make him more comfortable before I introduce him to a lot of others, ok?"

Talia gave him a sad smile, but nodded her head in understanding.

"We understand," Marcus spoke up. "The last thing we want is an Isaac Fiasco 2.0."

Derek gave his parents a small smile. "Thanks for understanding. I swear I'll call you guys the second he's more comfortable." He then sent them a semi-guilty look. "And I'm sorry for being an asshole earlier."

"Derek!" Talia exclaimed. "Watch your language."

Marcus groaned and wrapped an arm around his wifes waist. "Talia, dear, he's twenty-six years old. He can swear if he wants--"

"I don't care if he's fifty, for goodness sake!" Talia interrupted, wagging a finger in her husbands face. "It's not polite to swear in front of your parents."

"Mom, I've heard you swear in front of grandma plenty of times," Derek commented, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"I don't recall such a thing," Talia denied, giving Derek an innocent look.

Derek was about to reply, but a small tug on the back of his shirt captured his attention. It startled him slightly but he composed himself before he flinched. Turning around, he saw Stiles standing behind him, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Stiles?" Derek asked gently. The omega was wobbling a little from his shaky legs, a tell-tale sign that he was going to fall in a few moments. Derek reacted quickly, scooping him up bridal style before he could tumble to the floor.

Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's neck and fisted his fingers in the alphas shirt. He then sent a small, curious look over Derek's shoulder, towards his parents.

To be completely honest, he had forgotten about them the second he had laid his eyes back on Stiles. If it wasn't for the look Stiles had sent them, Derek probably would have closed the door without another thought. But it just so happened that his wolf didn't enjoy Stiles' attention being on anyone else. Especially not his parents. His wolf was selfish like that. So he had no choice but to turn around and face them like a polite, mature adult.

He hesitated before he turned around, though. He wanted to know if Stiles actually wanted to meet them or save it for another day. He couldn't smell any fear, but he wanted to give Stiles the choice anyways.

"Stiles, those are my parents," Derek murmured low into Stiles ear. "They came by because they wanted to meet you. Do you want to meet them? I can send them away if you want. I promise that they're nice people. They're good guys."

Stiles blinked a few times before he put his mouth next to Derek's ear. The air from Stiles' nose was ticklish against his skin.

"Good guys like you?" Stiles whispered.

For a moment Derek's breath caught in his throat, emotions threatening to tighten it.

He vaguely heard a whimper come from behind him, but it didn't really register in his mind. All he could think of was the fact that Stiles categorized him as 'one of the good guys.'

He felt the familiar sting behind his eyes that signaled to him that tears were going to flow any second. He quickly bit his lip with one of his fangs, the sharp pain keeping the tears at bay.

He thought he was being a bit ridiculous. He only ever cried when he was really sad, and nothing said in the last few minutes was even close to sad. However, it was the fact that Stiles saw him as somebody good, saw him as someone who wouldn't ever hurt him, that really squeezed at his heart. No, they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of happiness.

Derek could honestly say that that small detail meant more to him than anything else ever could.

Derek swallowed thickly and composed himself. "Yeah," he responded, voice rough with emotion. "Like me."

"Ok," Stiles responded, prompting Derek to turn around.

The look on his parents' face showed that they had heard their little exchange. Which, of course they had. They were werewolves, after all. But they also had a look of pride and adoration that was aimed at Derek. It made the alpha feel like even though he had jumped into the whole mating thing blind as a bat, he was doing a pretty damn good job.

"Stiles," Derek said. "These are my parents; Talia and Marcus. Mom, dad, this is my mate, Stiles."

Talia flashed him a warm, motherly smile, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "It's so nice to meet you, sweetie."

"Yes, it's very nice meeting you, Stiles," Marcus chimed in, an unusual, calm smile on his lips.

"My goodness," Talia spoke up again, giving a small laugh. "You're very gorgeous. And your eyes are so beautiful."

Stiles replied by blushing profusely and burying his face in Derek shoulder.

Derek chuckled and softly nuzzled his head.

"I think you've overwhelmed him, dear," Marcus murmured.

Talia slapped a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened.

"I think we'll be going, son," Marcus said, lacing his fingers with Talia's.

Derek gave them both a smile. "Ok. See you guys later."

"Goodbye, Stiles!" Talia blurted, waving her free hand wildly at the omega.

Stiles briefly untucked his face from Derek's shoulder and gave her an unsure smile.

Derek closed the door, sighing in relief.

"I'm sorry, Stiles. I didn't know they were going to visit me today," Derek apologized, looking at the omegas tired face. "Did you finish your cake?"

Stiles nodded.

Derek chucked. "I suppose your not hungry for any dinner then?"

Stiles gave him an innocent look, making Derek laugh out loud.

"Ok, so you are hungry." Derek walked them back to the kitchen and set Stiles back on his chair from earlier, the only evidence of him sitting there being an empty plate with some chocolate cake crumbs. "Let's see what we can feed you."

The next hour was full of Derek moving around the kitchen with multiple kinds of food. Stiles had expressed his desire for eating some grits, and Derek was happy to comply. To make them taste not so plain, Derek shook a generous amount of cinnamon flavoring in them. Stiles' eyes lit up when Derek had suggested it, so he complied quickly. While they were cooking in the pot, Derek grabbed his blender out from the cupboard and some fruit from the fridge. He then proceeded to make a blueberry-banana smoothie for both him and Stiles. He added a bendy straw into each cup and slid one over to Stiles.

The omega happily sucked on it, not letting up until it was halfway gone. When his grits were done, he ate most them, making little, happy noises as he chewed beside Derek. Derek just shoveled his own food in his mouth so he wouldn't embarrass himself by groaning at the noises, or something as equally mortifying. It was definitely the fastest he had ever eaten leftover Chinese.

The cleanup afterwards was quick and easy. All there was to do was shove the dishes in the dishwasher and wipe off the counter. After that, the two of them settled down on the couch to watch a little bit of tv before bed. The only cartoon that was playing was 'My Little Pony.' Though Derek wasn't the biggest fan of the show, he watched it anyways because of Stiles. Though, to be honest, Stiles was giving it some suspicious looks, like he couldn't quite understand why a bunch of horses were talking to each other. Then again, a talking sponge wasn't exactly considered normal either.

About an hour later, Derek found himself watching Stiles from the corner of his eye. He could tell his mate was getting really tired by the way his head was bobbing up and down, but there was something he needed to tell him before he slipped off into dreamland.

"Stiles," he spoke up. The omega cast him a drowsy look. "I just want you to know that a friend of mine is going to be coming over next week. His name is Deaton. Remember, the guy I told you about who helped me when I found you?"

Stiles nodded, looking a bit more awake.

"Well, he's gonna come over for a little bit next week," Derek continued. "He's going to check up on you to make sure you're healing right and getting better. I think you're doing really good, though."

Stiles gave him a side-eye, his fingers twitching in his lap. He was silent for a few heartbeats before he mumbled, "What's he gonna do?"

"I'm not quite sure," Derek confessed, scooting over an inch so their legs brushed each other. "He's definitely going to check your leg that was broken. He might have you walk around a little bit, but with more practice over the next few days I think you'll have that down no problem."

Stiles nodded slowly and nibbled on his bottom lip, the air becoming smoky with anxiety.

"Hey," Derek said gently, his hand creeping over to rest on top of Stiles'. "It'll be fine. I promise you that he's not going to hurt you. He just wants to check you over to make sure you're doing ok. You're body went through quite the change, you know."

"Ok," Stiles answered, the smell of stress slowly dissipating from the air.

Derek didn't know if Stiles truely believed him, or if his wolf was just influencing Stiles' emotion changes. Either way, he wanted to make Stiles know that Derek was true to his word.

"Hey," Derek said softly, giving Stiles' hand a little squeeze. "I mean that, Stiles. He may be a family friend, but if he does anything that makes you uncomfortable, I won't hesitate to tell him to leave."

They held eye contact for a while, trust sparkling in the amber pools. Stiles flickered his tongue out to wet his bottom lip, shifting Derek's gaze down to Stiles' plush, red lips. They parted slightly under his gaze, causing Derek to hold back a small moan that wanted to break free. He wanted nothing more than to shift forward a few inches and lick inside of that little mouth. He knew Stiles' mouth would taste sweet, with an under bite of innocence. All he had to do was lean forward a little and press his lips to Stiles' and--

Derek was shocked out of his thoughts as the cat jumped up onto the couch and promptly sat on Stiles lap. He hissed at Derek and gave him the evil eye, like he just knew where Derek's thoughts were heading.

Derek looked away and faked a cough to try and hide his embarrassment. He was pretty sure that the red blush blooming on his cheeks and the back of his neck gave him away, though. He really hoped Stiles hadn't noticed him gazing at his lips. He didn't want to make him think that Derek only wanted him for mating purposes. He was quite certain that that would break Stiles' trust. Now, if Derek dreamed about kissing Stiles' pretty lips, well, Stiles didn't need to about know that.

Derek shifted his gaze back to the omega and cat. The look on Stiles face was a cross between amusement and confusion, like he didn't comprehend how the cat didn't like Derek. After a moment, Stiles just gave a little shrug and started to stroke the cats fur. The cat curled up in a ball in Stiles' lap and sent Derek a smug look.

The bastard.

"Does it have a name?" Stiles murmured, eyes transfixed on the cat.

"No, he doesn't." Derek had had the damn cat for almost a whole year, and he just called it 'cat.' Well, on a good day. On the days when he was really being a thorn in Derek's side, he was called an entire collage of unsavory names. "You can name him if you want!"

Stiles looked at Derek and cocked his head. "Like what?"

"Anything you want to. He's just a cat."

Stiles frowned at the alpha. "Not just a cat. You're not just a dog, are you?"

A burst of startled laughter escaped from Derek's mouth. Something about Stiles' question was just funny to him.

Derek scratched at the scruff on his jaw. "I suppose you have a point. But either way, you can name him whatever you want to. Just think about it. It can be something as simple as your favorite color, or something as complex as the name of a president."

Stiles thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the cat. Then, all of a sudden, a wide grin stretched across his face as he exclaimed, "Cinnamon!"

Derek threw his head back and laughed. Of course. His favorite flavor. Derek really should have seen that one coming.

The clock hanging on the wall chimed, telling them it was eight o'clock. To some people it may have seemed to early to go to bed, but Stiles had been falling asleep around that time every night.

"Are you tired? Do you wanna go to sleep?"

As if just realizing his own sleepiness, Stiles let out a huge yawn and sagged against the couch, nodding his head yes.

"All right. Move, cat," Derek said, making a shooing motion with his hands. It hissed at him before jumping off of Stiles' lap and running down the hallway.

Derek rolled his eyes and muttered, "Drama queen." He easily lifted Stiles' into his arms and carried him to the bedroom. He helped Stiles get some pajamas on and then let him brush his teeth and use the bathroom. By the time the omegas head hit the pillow, he was already asleep.

Derek just smiled as he reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. He thought the whole day was a big success. Stiles started walking again, he hadn't freaked out when he met Derek's parents, and best of all, Derek had miraculously gotten him to say more than two words at a time. Hell, he had said an entire sentence! In fact, more than a sentence!

Derek kept those positive thoughts in mind as he drifted off to sleep.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek knew he was sleeping, but he could tell something was wrong. Something in the air just felt... off. He wasn't even dreaming, but his wolf was getting really restless. Something was making his wolf restless.

As the fog of sleep slowly started to clear, his wolf got more urgent, causing him to sit up in alarm. His wolf was never wrong about things like that, so he forced himself to be immediately alert. That's when he realized his wolf was panicking because of Stiles.

As his head snapped towards his mate, the moonlight in the room allowed him to see Stiles shaking. His fingers clutched at the blankets and his head thrashed from side to side every few seconds. He was whispering something under his breath, little fragmented pieces of a sentence that Derek couldn't quite make out even with his wolf hearing.

Derek quickly turned on the lamp and scooted over to Stiles, giving his shoulder a light shake.

He was about to call Stiles' name, but Stiles interrupted him before he could. It was just one word that his mate whispered. One word that Stiles spoke, but it made his wolf whine is distress.

"Daddy."

Derek's hand just hovered above Stiles' shoulder, a little to stunned to do anything. This was the first time Stiles made any real mention of one of his family members, even if he was not aware of it.

"Dad," Stiles whispered again, his face crumbling. "Where are you?"

Derek shook himself out of his stupor and gave Stiles' shoulder another shake, this time a bit harder.

"Stiles," Derek called gently, not letting up his shaking until Stiles was startled awake. Derek held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, it's all right. You were having a bad dream."

Stiles' chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes looked around the room wildly before they landed on Derek, his heart slowing down a few beats.

"Are you ok?" Derek asked, mindlessly running his fingers through Stiles hair.

Stiles swallowed thickly before nodding, letting out a long breath as his head fell back down to the pillow. "Yeah. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for having a nightmare, Stiles. You can't control that," Derek replied. "Do you think you can get back to sleep?"

Stiles just nodded in reply and turned onto his side so he was facing away from the alpha. Derek just sent his back a small smile and turned off the lamp. He scooted close to Stiles before making himself comfortable. He tried not to think too much about Stiles' nightmare because that just made him want to question Stiles about his father.

Was he alive? Did he live in California? Did he care that Stiles was missing? Did he miss Stiles?

As hard as Derek tried to clear his mind of the thoughts, he couldn't help but fall into a fitful sleep.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in a few days I'll be going back to college, and if this semester is going to be anything like last semester, I probably won't have very much time to write. So I just want to apologize in advance if I don't update this fic for a while. Last semester was very stressful on me and I sort of spiraled down into a depression for a while. I didn't really have the motivation to do my homework, much less do any writing. It made me feel really sad because I really do enjoy writing, but I'd rather not do it if my emotional health is at risk. I learned that lesson, and this year is going to be different. So if I don't update in a while, it's not because I gave up on this fic. It's simply because I need a small break from my writing so I don't end up hating it, lol. I hope you all understand. Anyway, enjoy!

"Sorry I canceled last week," Deaton apologized as he stepped through Derek's door. "I had an emergency at the clinic. A patient of mine went into early labor."

Derek just smiled as he closed the door. "It's fine, Deaton. It just gave Stiles more time to get back on his feet."

"Good," Deaton replied, setting his mysterious black bag on Derek's couch. "How has he been settling in? Have you been giving him those vitamins?"

"Yup. Every day," Derek responded, scratching absentmindedly at the scruff on his jaw. "He's been settling in well. He's walking and talking and... and eating _some_ solid foods. He seems to trust me quite a bit. I'd say he's doing rather well given the circumstances."

Deaton just grunted in response, rifling through his bag with a slight frown on his face. "How often does he walk and talk?"

"Well, for the last week he's been walking all over the place by himself. I think he's better in that aspect."

"Any signs of being in pain?" Deaton asked, the frown falling off of his face when he apparently found what he was looking for.

"No. Nope. I check every time after he walks around."

"Great. The exchange worked to heal him them," Deaton responded. "And his talking? How often does he do that?"

Derek chuckled lightly. "Well, at first he hardly said a word. But then around week two he started to respond verbally with one word answers. Now he seems fine using sentences." Derek frowned slightly. "Though, he never actually _starts_ conversations. I always do, but he doesn't have a problem responding to them."

"Mm," Deaton hummed thoughtfully. "Well, one step at a time. It sounds like he's progressed along miraculously. Good work, Derek."

Derek shrugged almost shyly, the compliment throwing him for a loop. "It's really just instincts, you know? There was a time when I was a little skeptical about all of this _mate_ stuff. Now I understand perfectly."

Deaton gave Derek a small smile and grabbed his bag again, slinging it over his shoulder. "Is he in your bedroom?"

"No, he's using the bathroom right now. He's a bit nervous about your visit."

"As to be expected," Deaton replied. "Most people are afraid of doctors, you know."

Derek nodded, ears picking up the sound of the toilet flushing. "Where do you want to do this?"

"Your bedroom is fine if he's comfortable there," Deaton replied, looking towards the doorway.

"Yes, that's perfectly fine." Derek politely ushered Deaton into his room.

"I don't meant to pry, Derek, but have you declared Stiles as no longer missing?" Deaton asked, setting his bag down on the plush, white chair in the corner.

Derek paused for a few moments before regretfully shaking his head no. "I... The first time I talked to him I told him that he didn't have to tell me his real name until he was comfortable. The only thing I know is that he likes to be called 'Stiles.'" Derek sighed softly as he heard Stiles' footsteps padding towards him. "It's pretty hard to report someone as found when you don't know their name."

"I understand," Deaton replied. He looked up, past Derek's shoulder, and smiled warmly. "And you must be Stiles."

Derek turned around and spotted Stiles standing in the doorway. The omega looked hesitant, his eyes shifting back and forth between the alpha and the doctor. Derek could smell the spike of anxiety starting.

"Stiles, it's ok," Derek soothed. He stepped towards his mate and held out his hand. Stiles just blinked at it for a few moments before meeting Derek's eyes. He smiled slightly as he grasped Derek's hand, the alpha squeezing it gently. "Stiles, this is Dr. Deaton."

"Hi," Stiles said quietly, partially hiding behind Derek's body.

"Do you mind sitting down, Stiles?" Deaton asked. "I'd like to look you over a little bit."

Stiles wearily nodded his head yes, but didn't move a muscle. He just squeezed Derek's hand a little tighter.

"Come on," Derek coaxed, gently pulling him over to the bed. "I'll be right here with you. There's nothing to be afraid of."

The two of them sat down on the edge of the bed, Stiles sidled up against Derek's side. Derek's skin tingled pleasantly where Stiles was touching him. It made the alpha want to press more firmly against the younger boy, or at least lean over and bury his nose in the soft, brown hair. In fact, giving a small nip to Stiles' pale throat seemed like a good idea, too.

_Fuck_ , his fangs were dropping down and his mouth was starting to water. He needed to get a hold of himself fast.

He forced his fangs to recede back into his gums before quickly swallowing the small pool of saliva that had gathered in his mouth. He returned his attention back to Deaton, only to see him carefully wrapping something around Stiles upper arm.

"Looks like your blood pressure is pretty good," Deaton pointed out after a few moments, removing the cuff from Stiles' arm. "Now I want to check your eyes."

The whole process took about twenty minutes, Stiles never letting go of Derek's hand the entire time. Deaton just did some basic things, like checking the omegas movements, his eyes and his speech. He also listened to his lungs and declared it was ok for Stiles to start eating solid foods again, but he still needed to take vitamins every day. Stiles was still considered underweight, but Derek was all right with that. It was a hell of a lot better than being malnourished. And Derek was 100% sure that he could help get Stiles back to a healthy weight.

"So, last time I was here, I gave him a birth control injection," Deaton stated, pulling out a small needle from his bag. He gave Derek a questioning look. "It only works for a month. Since it'll be a whole month in a few days, do you want me to give him another one?" He shook the needle for emphasis.

Derek felt Stiles go rigid beside him, his breathing coming fast and shallow. Alarmed, Derek looked at the omega, only to see complete panic in his eyes. The sharp smell of fear skyrocketed within seconds.

"Stiles?" Derek asked, concern clouding his voice. He shot Deaton a look, but the doctor looked perplexed. He took a hesitant step towards them, and Derek got a lapful of a terrified Stiles.

"No," Stiles whimpered, trying to squirm impossibly closer to Derek. His nails dug into the skin of Derek's shoulders as he tried pulling himself closer. One of the omegas knees dug painfully into Derek's crotch, causing the alpha to let out a painful hiss.

"Stiles," Derek chocked out through clenched teeth. He wrapped a secure arm around Stiles' thin waist and tangled his other hand in Stiles hair, trying to gently pull him back.

"No, no," Stiles repeated, burying his face in Derek's neck. Derek's alarm bells immediately went off when he felt the wetness of tears against his warm skin.

"Stiles, baby, please look at me," Derek coaxed, letting out a loud whine as he gave Stiles head a nudge with his nose. His eyes slid back to Deaton, to the needle in his hand, and then it made sense. Stiles was afraid of the needle.

Derek let out a low growl at the doctor and his eyes flared blood-red. "Put that away," he growled. "No injections. They frighten him."

Deaton nodded, not hesitating to shove all of his things back in his bag, including the needle. He grabbed the bag and hoisted it onto his shoulder. "I apologize, Derek. I didn't mean to upset him."

Derek forced his eyes to go back to their usual color, giving a tense nod of his head. "S'alright."

That said, Deaton left.

"Stiles, he's gone," Derek said, trying to move backwards to look into Stiles' face. All he got was some wet sniffles and a heartbeat that sounded like a jackhammer. He rubbed both hands up and down his mates back, trying his best to soothe the shaking body. "Sweetheart, can you look at me? Please?"

Stiles let out a small whine as he shook his head no, his breathing still erratic.

"Shh, you're ok. Can you try to slow your breathing?"

All Derek got for an answer was Stiles' breaths turning into wheezes. He swore under his breath as he recognized the signs of a panic attack.

" _Stiles_ ," Derek said forcefully, using his strength to pull Stiles back a few inches. The omegas eyes were wide and scared, fingers clawing once again at Derek's shoulders. Derek cupped Stiles' cheek in one of his hands, forcing him to look into the alphas eyes. "Stiles, you _need_ to slow your breathing, ok? You're having a panic attack. Can you breathe with me?"

Derek made a show of slowly breathing in and out, encouraging his mate to do the same. However, Stiles couldn't do it, and it was making him panic even more. Derek had a tingle of fear shoot up his spine, afraid that he would have to go alpha on him. Derek didn't even _want_ to picture the horrified look that would definitely make its way on Stiles face. God, Derek didn't want to break the trust that Stiles had gained for him. It was possible that he wouldn't, but he just really didn't want to risk it.

That's when he remembered.

When he was younger, one of his human cousins always had panic attacks. It had made Derek curious enough to look up information on the internet. He vaguely remembered reading about how holding your breath could sometimes stop a panic attack. Considering he was quickly running out of options, he decided it would be worth it to try.

"Stiles, can you hold your breath for a few seconds?"

Stiles looked at him with scared eyes and tried, but he ended up choking out a small cough. His face crumbled as his grip on Derek's shoulders got weaker. If Derek didn't do something quickly, Stiles was going to pass out from asphyxiation. Instead of going all alpha on Stiles and _forcing_ him to slow his breathing, he let his actions take control instead.

So Derek cradled Stiles' face in his hands, closed the gap between their lips and kissed him.

The forceful press of his lips had caused their teeth to clink painfully together, and Derek was almost certain that one of his fangs was poking Stiles in the lip. But the action had caused Stiles to suck in a deep breath and hold it, more than likely out of shock.

Despite the fact that he had pretty much just _forced_ the kiss on Stiles, his wolf couldn't have been happier. It had longed for this kind of contact from the moment he had laid eyes on Stiles. Now that he was _actually_ kissing Stiles, his wolf was fucking _purring_. And it's not like the kiss was really anything to write home about. It was wet from Stiles' tears, and there was a bit too much force behind it. But they were also _Stiles_ ' lips. And they were small, and soft, and they molded to Derek's _just right._

Fuck, despite the events leading up to the kiss, the kiss was _perfect._

At least, for Derek it was. Going by the hard, tense line of Stiles body against Derek's chest, the alpha was certain the omega was not enjoying it. At least, he thought that for a few drawn out seconds. But after a few painfully tense moments, he felt Stiles body relax significantly against his own. Stiles' hands, which had been white-knuckling Derek's shoulders not but 10 seconds ago, slid down to Derek's chest. They were trembling slightly as they fisted the material of Derek's shirt between his fingers.

Derek couldn't help but smile against the red lips, completely relieved that Stiles wasn't repulsed by him. His wolf wanted to let out a yip of satisfaction when he felt light puffs of air escape from Stiles' nose, ghosting across his cheek. Eventually, he slowly broke the kiss, but kept his face close to Stiles. There was a small string of saliva connecting their bottom lips, but for some insane reason, it made Derek's belly swoop with desire.

Derek watched as Stiles' eyelids fluttered open, revealing the shades of amber sparkling with something that looked like awe. His breathing had gone back to normal and there was a healthy, pretty pink flush high on his cheekbones. Derek wanted to trace the heated skin with his tongue.

Instead of giving in to his urges, he just gave Stiles a small, worried smile and traced one of the cheekbones with a thumb. "I, uh, sorry," Derek said a low, gruff voice. "I just... I needed you to hold your breath to... to stop the panic attack. So, when I kissed you..."

"I held my breath," Stiles whispered, finishing the sentence for him.

Derek huffed a laugh and nodded his head. He swallowed thickly before speaking. "I, I'm sorry, Stiles. I didn't mean to force myself on you. That's... That's not who I am."

Stiles gave him a weak smile and whispered, "I know."

Derek smiled at him in relief before clutching the omega to his chest. Stiles' head rested comfortably in the crook of Derek's neck as Derek rubbed soothing circles on Stiles' back. The two sat like that in silence for a good 10 minutes before Stiles broke the silence.

"When I..." he started, voice sounding small and far away.

Derek let out a soft rumble, making the omega relax. He nosed softly at Stiles' temple, encouraging him to continue with what he was saying.

"When I was being held at the Argent's," Stiles continued, his voice quiet. "They... They always gave us... _shots._ "

Derek felt his wolf getting restless under his skin. He didn't like where this was going.

"What kind of shots?" Derek whispered, tracing Stiles' spine with gentle fingers.

"Um, they m-made us go into heat. B-before alphas would come and look at us. They wanted us to smell good so the alphas would buy us."

Derek growled deeply, but he was thankful it didn't frighten Stiles. He hugged the omega closer to his chest and pressed a tender kiss to his hairline.

He had heard of those kind of injections. They were highly illegal, and anyone caught with them was immediately charged with 20 years in prison. There were loads of side effects associated with those kind of injections, the worst being death. They used to be highly used in the earlier days, when alphas were a hell of a lot more barbaric. When an alpha wanted a weeks worth of sex, all he needed to do was purchase some of the liquid and inject it into their omega, whether the omega wanted it or not. Then in just a few hours, the omega would go into a severe heat that was usually not very pleasurable for them at all. All in all, it was a drug made _by_ alphas for the _pleasure_ of alphas.

Derek swallowed thickly and clenched his jaw. "Did any alpha ever... did they--"

"No," Stiles denied, heartbeat steady.

"Thank god," Derek sighed. "That's why you don't like shots."

"Yeah," Stiles whispered, shivering slightly.

"It's ok, Stiles," Derek said. "If you're afraid of shots, I'll never make you get one. _Especially_ not for going into heat."

Stiles buried his face into Derek's neck. "I don't like my heat," Stiles said, the words muffled against Derek's skin.

Derek hated that Stiles was afraid of going into heat. Heat was supposed to be very pleasurable for an omega. And it was going to be Derek's duty to make sure Stiles felt the utmost pleasure during his. _Fuck_ , Derek would be sure of it. But one step at a time. Derek had _just_ shared his first kiss with his mate. There was so much more he wanted to show Stiles, so the omega could understand that not all sexual acts were horrible. It was just going to take a bit of time. But that was fine. They had all the time in the world.

"Did you... help _yourself_ through your heats?" Derek asked. Though Stiles was still pure and untainted by any other alpha, that didn't mean he hadn't used his own hand and fingers to make it a little less agonizing.

"No," Stiles whispered. "My chains were never long enough."

" _Fuck_ ," Derek swore. An image of Stiles appeared in his head, sweaty, panting, maybe even crying, as he was chained to the cold wall in the basement of the Argent estate, heavily in the middle of his heat as alphas sniffed around hm. It made Derek _beyond_ angry. "It's not supposed to be like that, Stiles, ok? Your heat isn't something that you should ever be afraid of. It should... it should feel good. What they were doing to you was completely wrong. You're never supposed to go through a heat the way you did. And I'm going to make sure of that."

"Ok," Stiles sniffed, his eyelashes fluttering against Derek's neck.

That being said, Derek felt a little better. However, he was still antsy, like his wolf was on edge. He had felt like that the last few days but he had mostly ignored it, putting all of his focus on Stiles. So the moment he cast a look towards his window and spotted the bright, full moon outside, he felt like the worlds biggest idiot.

Of course. The full moon.

" _Shit_ ," Derek hissed. If he didn't get to shift into his full wolf form tonight, he would be severely cranky for the next couple of days. And considering he had to go back to work tomorrow morning, that was a bad idea. He didn't want to get on Lydia's bad side. She would be handing Derek's balls back to him on a platter.

"What's wrong?" Stiles asked softly, blinking up at the alpha.

"Uh," Derek started, blowing out a breath. "Tonight's the full moon. Usually on the full moon I drive to a preserve not far from here and run around in my wolf form. You know, to burn off steam and all of that. I guess that's not going to happen tonight."

Stiles just blinked at him, a small blush taking over his cheeks. "I could go with you."

Derek smiled at the offer, but he could hear the up tick of Stiles heartbeat, telling Derek that Stiles was having a anxiety about the thought of leaving the house.

"It's fine, Stiles. I can live with not running around for one night," Derek replied. He chuckled softly at the relieved expression on Stiles' face. "But... would you mind if I shifted into my wolf form _here_?"

Stiles swallowed thickly and shook his head no. "I like puppies."

Derek threw his head back and laughed. "I think you're going to realize that I'm a lot bigger than a puppy."

Stiles blushed again as Derek set him down on the bed beside him. Derek quickly stood up and lifted his shirt off over his head, ignoring the swoop in his belly when he heard Stiles' heart skip a beat. His wolf was itching _so_ badly to get out that he didn't bother worrying about modesty. He just quickly slipped out of his pants and boxers, leaving him naked and exposed to Stiles' eyes.

He let out a big breath as he concentrated on shifting, feeling the familiar popping and cracking of his bones sliding into place. His skin itched for a moment as he sprouted fur and his nose elongated into a muzzle, but once he was on all four paws and fully shifted on the ground he felt like everything was back in order.

The first thing he did was give his coat a good shake, his paws skidding slightly on the slippery, wooden floor. The next thing he did was look up towards Stiles' adorably curious face. He gave a deep bark to his mate, his tail wagging a mile a minute. He wasted no time trotting over to the bed and jumping up, placing himself right next to Stiles. He stretched his neck out and stuck his cold nose in Stiles' throat.

Stiles jerked away from the cold touch, giggling. He gave Derek a shy look before reaching over and patting him lightly on the head. Derek encouraged the ministrations by giving Stiles' wrist a small lick. Stiles must have understood the hint, for he softly stroked Derek's silky fur. Derek panted in happiness, tail slapping against the bed every other second. Derek _really_ went crazy when Stiles' fingers started to scratch behind his ear. He felt no shame as he rolled onto his back, tongue lolling out to the side as Stiles' fingers kept up the good work.

After a good amount of the heavenly scratching, Derek jumped back down to the floor and shook himself off again. His ears perked up as he cast a look towards the doorway. He had a squeaky toy hiding in one of the drawers in the living room. It was his dirty little secret. He loved nothing more than squeaking it like crazy in his wolf form, the feeling of his canines tearing into it sending a satisfied thrill through his body every time.

He let out a loud whine, turning back around and carefully grabbing Stiles' sweatpants between his teeth and pulling.

"Oh," Stiles said, standing up. "You want me to follow you?'

Derek gave a happy bark, trotting slowly beside his mate as they made their way into the living room. He gave a deep growl and bared his teeth as he spotted Cinnamon sitting on the couch. The cat hissed and quickly ran into the other room. Derek could have swore the cat gave Stiles a traitorous look.

"Derek," Stiles frowned. "That wasn't very nice."

Derek just gave a small whine and licked apologetically at Stiles' fingers. Stiles just shot him a tiny smile, making the alpha feel better. Without further interruptions, he stalked over to the drawer hiding the toy. He gripped the handle with his teeth and _pulled_ , opening it to reveal the squeaky toy in the shape of a mini cat. He gripped it carefully in his jaws and head-butted the drawer closed.

Stiles giggled from where he had plopped down on the couch. "No wonder the cat doesn't like you," he said, gesturing to the toy between Derek's teeth.

Derek just gave a snort, trotting proudly over to the couch. He settled himself down comfortably, half on top of Stiles lap. He waited until he felt small fingers scratching through his fur before he got to work gnawing on the toy, the squeak loud and insistent.

He spent what felt like forever spread across Stiles' lap, shifting every once in a while so he wouldn't hurt the human on accident. After an excessive amount of toy chewing, his jaw began to get sore. Not only that but he could feel energy buzzing beneath his skin. He needed to get up and do _something_.

So he did. He jumped off the couch and did a few laps up and down the hall, tail wagging excessively as he dropped his nose to the floor. He wasn't really searching for any particular smell. It was just his instinct to be on the lookout for anything that smelled _wrong._ He needed to make sure his mate was safe and protected. Thankfully, he detected no threats, though he already knew he wouldn't.

After a few more minutes of taking on guard dog patrol, he moved into the kitchen, sniffing away at the floor. And, much to Stiles' amusement, he lapped up a few crumbs resting on the wooden ground. When he got bored, he stretched and yawned, cold nose twitching. He cast a glance towards his mate, seeing that the boys eyelids were drooping. He was clearly tired, and just because Derek was in his wolf form didn't mean he was incapable of taking care of his mate.

He walked over to the couch and gave a small Woof,' tugging gently at Stiles' sleeve. The boy just yawned adorably and followed Derek into the bedroom. Derek sat patiently by the door as Stiles slipped between the covers. He then stood on his hind legs and used a paw to flip the light switch off. He silently stalked over to the bed and jumped up, settling himself down comfortably beside Stiles, his head resting on the omegas chest.

Stiles lazily stroked his fur for a while, causing the wolf to let out a happy huff. They sat in silence for a few, comfortable minutes before Stiles spoke.

"Genim," Stiles mumbled, half asleep.

Derek rose his head and looked at him, one of his ears flickering.

"Genim," Stiles mumbled again, fingers going still in Derek's fur. "That's my name. Genim Jonathan Stilinski."

That said, Stiles breathing slowed and evened out, telling Derek that he had fallen asleep. Derek wagged his tail happily, giving the boys cheek a small lick. He counted that as a huge milestone in their relationship. Stiles finally trusted him enough to tell him his name. That made Derek's heart swell with pride.

Now the next step was to find his parents.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek sighed as he sat down in his office chair, taking a large gulp of his coffee. It was the first day in nearly a month that he had returned to work, and his workload was already enormous. There was loads of paperwork that needed to be filled out, and not to mention he needed to go and investigate a couple of crime scenes. Then there was the 14 people he needed to go and question about a recent hit and run that had taken place. In other words, his work load was fucking _huge._ Thankfully, Lydia had given him a few weeks to get back on his feet and do it all.

He had traded working nights for working days instead, just so he could be home with Stiles during bedtime. He was having a bit of anxiety about leaving Stiles behind for a few hours, but Laura had agreed to look after him while Derek was at work. And since Stiles seemed to enjoy Laura's company, he knew he had made the right choice by calling her up.

When Derek had arrived to work, he had been immediately bombarded with questions from Lydia. The questions varied from wanting to know what Stiles looked like, to if Derek knew his real name yet, and of course to if the sex was any good. He growled at the last question, and thankfully, Lydia knew when to be quiet. Instead, she just shoved a bunch of forms into his hands, claiming he needed to fill them out so they could report Stiles as no longer missing, and hopefully contact his parents.

Currently it was Derek's lunch break and he still hadn't filled out the forms. Technically he wasn't supposed to mix his work and home life, so the paperwork would have to wait until after his shift was finished. However, that couldn't stop him from being curious.

As he bit into his ham and cheese sandwich, he clicked on the internet icon on his laptop. When the window opened up to the Google homepage, his fingers hovered uncertainly over the keyboard, not really knowing why he had the urge to do this. He just shrugged to himself and typed 'Genim Jonathan Stilinski' into the search bar.

Not a lot of things popped up, though Derek was sort of expecting that. Genim wasn't exactly the most normal name to search for. All he saw was a couple of polish website and some elementary school listings. His interest _did_ pick up a bit when he saw an obituary for a Claudia Rose Stilinski. He didn't hesitate to click on it, holding his breath as he waited for the page to load.

He felt his heart sink a little at what he read. Claudia Stilinski died at the age of 38 from frontotemporal dementia, leaving behind a grieving husband and an 8 year old son named Genim Jonathan Stilinski. For a small moment, he thought that perhaps it was a different person who had a child named Genim, that maybe _his_ Genim still had his mother. But when he scrolled down the page, he found a picture of Claudia, and she was definitely _his_ Genim's mother. They had the same colored hair, the same amber eyes, the same moles, the same smile. Claudia's beauty had definitely been passed down to Stiles.

Derek gave a soft whine for his mates loss. He didn't know what it was like to lose a parent, but he knew it had to be hard. Especially if Stiles was only 8 years old when it happened.

Sighing sadly, he clicked the back button, scrolling through the other results and finding nothing useful. He clicked over to the next page and frowned, an article catching his eye.

_**Beacon Hills Sheriff Resigns After 9 Years**_ , the headline read as the article popped up in full. Derek scratched as the scruff on his jaw as he recognized the name of the Sheriff. Jonathan Francis Stilinski was his name. That was also the name of Stiles' mothers' husband, so Derek assumed the ex-sheriff was Stiles' father.

The article hardly had any information about Jonathan himself. It just went on to say that he was resigning after 9 years, and the position was being handed over to a woman named Teresa Catherine Marlowe. Then it went on to talk about the new sheriff-to-be, not mentioning Jonathan again.

Derek sighed in frustration, eating the rest of his sandwich. All of this searching was making him feel a little off, like something wasn't right. And that was a ridiculous way to feel considering every ones situation was different. That's when he realized something. If Stiles was the sheriffs son, then _surely_ there should be plenty of articles about the omegas disappearance. Fuck, that had probably been the talk of the town when it had happened. There was no doubt that the sheriff would have been swarmed by reporters, trying to get him to speak about his missing son. An article like that would have been _all over_ the internet.

_So, maybe the ex-sheriff_ isn't _Stiles' father,_ his mind supplied, but he shook the thought away. The guys name was _Jonathan_ for fucks sake, which was also Stiles' middle name. There was no way the shared name _and_ the both of their links to Claudia's obituary was a coincidence. But then, why the lack of missing reports? Something was... _off._

Derek glanced at the clock, his fingers itching to type something new into the search bar. He had 10 minutes left of his lunch break, and he was going to make the most of it.

He let out a breath as he cracked his knuckles, returning his fingers back to the keyboard. He deleted Stiles' name from the search engine and typed in Jonathan's name instead, zoning in with complete focus. The only thing that came up was the same article he had just read, talking about the sheriff resigning. He leafed through a few pages of the same article, getting more annoyed by the second. None of them said anything about his child missing, or anything else for that matter, giving Derek no real indication about what the sheriff was like or where he currently was.

It was when Derek was 3 pages into his search when he found something. He had his mouse hovering over the red 'x' in the upper right-hand corner of the screen when he spotted it. The headline gave him chills up the back of his spine.

**Ex-Sheriff, Jonathan Stilinski, found guilty of killing 10 year old son.**

Derek swallowed heavily, confusion swirling in his mind as he clicked on the link. A picture of the sheriff was at the top of the page, showing him in his uniform with his badge shining brightly underneath the lighting. He was clearly giving a speech at the time the picture was taken, for he was standing behind a podium with a microphone attached. There were a few officers standing behind him, silently watching as Jonathan spoke to his audience.

Derek scrolled down to the article written below, an odd feeling swirling in his gut as he read the authors words:

**Earlier this morning, the ex-sheriff of Beacon Hills, Jonathan Stilinski, was found guilty to having killed his 10 year old son, Genim Jonathan Stilinski. An anonymous phone call gave a tip to the police about having seen Jonathan carrying a body bag into his house around 11 PM last Sunday. Concerned, the police went to investigate, only to discover Jonathan had buried his sons body beneath the dirt in his basement. When Genim's body was removed from the scene and taken to the medical examiner, it was reported that the childs throat had been slashed with a knife, along with a few stab wounds to the stomach.**

**The ex-sheriff is said to have a history of drinking problems, most likely due to his wifes death from the previous year. He is being charged with 50 years in prison, no bail. His former co-workers are in a state of complete shock from the ex-sheriffs actions, but they are glad that he is behind bars.. Though they mourn the loss of the man they thought they knew, they also mourn the loss of his son, grieving for a little angel who will never again see the light of day.**

Derek frowned heavily as he read through the article, his eyes trailing to the bottom of the page where another picture was. This time it was a picture of a little kid, smiling goofilly at the camera, one of his front teeth missing. As Derek squinted at the screen, he could clearly tell it was a picture of Stiles as a young kid. After all, his moles were still prominent as a child.

Derek sat back in his chair, his mind spinning. He didn't know what to think. Something wasn't right. The entire story was just... _fucking weird._ The picture was _clearly_ Stiles. And the person in his house was _also_ clearly Stiles. But how could that be if his mate was supposed to be dead?

Derek ran a hand through his hair and closed out of the internet. Was it possible that Stiles had a twin brother, and _he_ was the one who was killed?

"No," Derek mumbled to himself, taking another drink of coffee. "Stiles was listed as an only child in Claudia's obituary."

That's when he thought that perhaps the sheriff had killed a _different_ kid and buried him in his basement, and everyone just _thought_ it was Stiles. But wouldn't somebody realize that the kid _wasn't_ Stiles? If the sheriffs co-workers had found the body bag and looked inside of it, surely they would know the difference between Stiles and some other kid. And if not the other officers, then surely Stiles' _other_ relatives would have noticed at his funeral. If they _had_ a funeral for him, that is. The article mentioned nothing about a funeral or a wake being held for him, which was strange.

_Derek, there_ was _no funeral for him,_ the Lydia sounding voice hissed. _He's sitting safely inside your house, for fucks sake._

Derek huffed and drummed his fingers on his desk. None of this made any sense. Like, _at all._ The combinations of all of the articles left him with _nothing_ but loose ends. And fuck if that wasn't saying something. He did this kind of shit every day for his job, but this was by far the most _bizarre_ thing he had ever stumbled across. Not only that, but it also gave him the weirdest feeling, like he was _far_ from seeing the whole picture.

As he pulled some _actual_ work cases out of their files, he made a vow to himself to get to the bottom of this. No matter how long it took, he was going to figure this out. But despite the fact that he tried concentrating on his work, he couldn't help but keep thinking about one thing in particular.

If the ex-sheriff had killed some random, innocent 10 year old boy, then who was _that_ poor kid, and where was his parents? Or, if what the article said was true, and the sheriff really _did_ kill his son named Genim Jonathan Stilinski, then _who_ exactly was Derek's _mate_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look, actual plot snuck in!!!
> 
> On another note, I literally have no idea how a person goes about reporting a missing person as found, so lets all just pretend that there is paperwork involved for the sake of my sanity, lol. However, if one of you guys know, please enlighten me!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. All of the support that you guys gave me with my writing and about my depression is phenomenal. Like, seriously. Some of your comments made me cry because for the first time since I actually started college, you guys made me feel like I wasn't alone. That's really powerful. I knew I liked all of you for a reason, lol.
> 
> Oh! On a serious note, I actually figured out how to work my blog on tumblr! (Finally, after 2 years...) So that's up and running. I can guarantee that there will be a lot of Sterek and Teen Wolf, but also probably just some other things that make me enjoy life. I only have one follower so far, lol (but thank you to that person!) but I suppose that's to be expected since I just created it. So, if any of you would be kind enough to follow me, then I will love you forever! You can find me here: http://hero-complex-girl.tumblr.com/ I don't have much up right now, but I will! ;)

Derek knew he went through at _least_ 4 stop signs on his way back home. Good thing there were no cops around, otherwise he would have wracked up a couple thousand bucks in driving violations in the span of a half hour. Not to mention, trying to explain his situation to an officer would be a complete train wreck.

Well you see, officer, I was too busy thinking of my mate to pay attention to the road. Actually, his father, to be more specific. His father who used to be the sheriff of this town, but supposedly went crazy and killed his ten year old son, buried him in his basement and then got arrested and put in jail for the next fifty years for murder. Oh, but here's the kicker, officer! His son, the one he killed, is sitting in my house right now with my sister. Weird, right?

Derek rolled his eyes at himself as he got out of his car, feeling like an idiot. This whole thing was getting to his head. It was all just so _weird_ , but he really couldn't think of anything else the entire time he was at work. In fact, he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he had spilled cold coffee down the front of his shirt, _completely_ zoned out while he was on the phone with another FBI agent, and worst of all, he collided with Lydia before he left the building, which had sent the furious red-head flying to the floor. Looking down at her with wide eyes, he hadn't been able to form a proper sentence, instead just blurting out random words of apology and gesturing uselessly with his hands. Lydia had just glared icy daggers at him and ordered him to go home and "get his fucking act together."

Derek had never left work so fast in his _life._

Derek sighed wearily to himself as he waited for the elevator to stop at his floor. It felt like a giant, crushing weight was resting on his shoulders. And not even from his _actual_ work load. No, work he could deal with. He was never emotionally invested in any of his clients or investigations. However, anything having to do with _Stiles_ hit home. He couldn't just blissfully ignore what he found. Lord knows he had already tried that 100 different times today. But every time he tried ignoring it, the image of Stiles sleeping in Derek's bed, tossing and turning with a nightmare and calling out for his 'daddy' appeared in Derek's mind. It made him feel guilty, like the _least_ he owed Stiles was to find his father. Even if it led them to a prison, but hey. At least Stiles would know that his dad was alive. And it's not like Derek wouldn't allow Stiles to visit his father. Murderer or not, that wouldn't be fair to his mate.

As Derek stepped out of the elevator and rounded the corner, it was just his luck to bump into someone, sending the unfortunate person crashing to the carpeted floor.

"Fuck, sorry!" Derek exclaimed, reaching out a hand to help pull the mystery guy up.

Familiar hazel eyes looked up at him wearily and rose an eyebrow.

"Oh, uh, Danny!" Derek said, helping his neighbor to his feet. "I apologize. I've been having kind of an off day."

"I can tell," Danny replied, suspiciously eyeing Derek's coffee stained shirt. "Hopefully it gets better for you."

"Yeah, doubt it," Derek muttered under his breath.

Danny chuckled. "That's why I never wanted to be an FBI agent. My mom wanted me to, but I shut that idea down pretty quick."

Derek smiled at him. "Sometimes I wonder _myself_ why I became one. Some weeks can be so stressful that it makes me want to tear my hair out, but that feeling goes away when I solve a big case. It kind of feels like the worlds been lifted off my shoulders."

Danny smiled. "Must be a good feeling. I'm guessing you're stuck in the middle of one right now?"

"More than you could possibly imagine," Derek replied, chuckling darkly. "But how's your job coming along? You still designing clothes?"

"Yup!" Danny said, face lighting up. "My next line comes out in a few months. Fashion design has always been my dream, ever since I was a little kid."

Derek rose an eyebrow at that, a random question circling in his mind. "Have you lived in Beacon Hills your whole life?"

Danny nodded his head. "Technically, I was born in Washington, but my parents moved here when I was a couple months old. So, yeah. I've lived here all twenty-eight years of my life. That's a long time to stay in one place."

Derek hummed in agreement, a ball starting to roll in his mind. "Would you say Beacon Hills has gotten larger since you were a kid, or has it stayed the same?"

Danny squinted his eyes as he thought about the question, hand scratching at his cheek. "Well, I think it's gotten a _little_ more populated, but that's pretty much a given in the span of nearly thirty years. The people here used to be so... _close._ Now hardly anyone knows their neighbors."

" _Close_ , huh?" Derek murmured, frowning a little.

"Yeah," Danny continued, waving a hand in the air. "You know, everybody sort of knew everyone. Even if it wasn't on a personal level, you at least knew most of everyone's name."

"I see," Derek pondered. "Did you... uh, well, never mind."

"What?" Danny asked, blinking at Derek.

Derek scratched at the back of his head, wondering if he was _actually_ going to go down this road.

 _Yes. Yes you are_ , his mind supplied for him. With an air of new determination, he looked Danny square in the eyes.

"Do you recall a Jonathan Stilinski, by any chance?"

Danny nibbled on his bottom lip, eyes staring hard at the wall next to them as if it held all the answers he needed. "Stilinski, Stilinski, why does that name sound so familiar?" Danny muttered.

"Oh, apparently he used to be the sheriff a few years back," Derek supplied nonchalantly. "Before I moved to Beacon Hills."

Danny's face lit up and he snapped his fingers in triumph. "Ah! Yes. Sheriff Stilinski. The only cop I ever liked. He was a good man." Danny then frowned a little. "I'm surprised I remember that. He resigned when I was in my early twenties. Gosh, that seems like it was ages ago."

"A good man?" Derek asked.

Danny nodded his head yes. Derek listened to Danny's heartbeat as he answered, and it was completely steady. Well, just because the sheriff was nice in the public eye didn't mean he was a good man at home.

"Do you know exactly why he resigned?"

Danny let out a small sigh, his expression going a little sad. "Yeah. His son actually went missing. God, he must have had the entire police force out searching for him. Half the town, too. It went on for an entire year, but they never found anything. I can only guess that he felt like he had failed at his job. That's probably why he quit. They never did find Stiles, though. It was like he just... _vanished_."

"Stiles?" Derek asked dumbly, his mates nick name ringing loud in his ears. "Did you say _Stiles_?"

"Yeah." Danny gave him a half smile. "That's what his son liked to be called."

Derek could feel his heart racing in his chest. Thankfully Danny wasn't a werewolf, otherwise he would been giving Derek some funny looks.

"Did you know this _Stiles_?" Derek asked in a rush, not even realizing that he had inched closer to the other man.

"Uh, yeah," Danny replied, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. " _Everyone_ knew him. It was kind of hard not to. He was so hyper and friendly. Not to mention talkative. I swear, that boy could have made friends with a rock."

Derek felt a gentle smile tug at his lips. It was very reassuring to know that Stiles had not been skittish and quiet his entire life, to know that Stiles had once been happy and brim-full with spirit. Derek _really_ hoped that he could be the one to help Stiles ignite that spark once more.

"I don't mean to pry, Derek, but why exactly do you want to know this?" Danny asked. "Is it for one of your cases?"

Derek nodded, dumbfounded. "Yeah, sort of. It's more of a _personal_ case, I guess you could say." Derek thought for a moment before speaking once more. "So, Stiles was the sheriffs _son_ , correct?"

Danny nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"And, did they publicly announce him as missing?"

"Boy, did they _ever_ ," Danny replied, eyes going wide. "It was all over the news, the internet, even a couple billboards. And like I said, nearly the whole town went searching for him. It was major news at the time. I mean, it's not every day the sheriffs kid gets kidnapped."

"Exactly," Derek murmured. "That's what I was thinking to myself when no articles came up about his missing son."

Danny just looked at him incredulously. "Um, what?"

Derek ran a hand through his hair, the gears in his head turning at full speed. "None of this makes sense," he groaned.

Danny cast a look over to his door, biting his bottom lip. "Look," Danny said in a low voice, turning his gaze back onto Derek. "I _really_ don't know what's going on, but you've got me interested. I... if there is some way that I can help with your case, don't hesitate to knock on my door."

Derek squinted his eyes slightly, trying to figure out if Danny was being serious. He was, going by his heartbeat. For a brief moment, Derek was going to decline the offer. _He_ was the FBI agent. _He_ was the one who was supposed to put all of the clues together. However, Derek _knew_ that would be a foolish thing to do. He had somebody right in front of him that remembered a _huge_ event that Derek hadn't been present for. For all Derek knew, Danny might hold they key to some answers and explanations.

Besides, despite the lack of proper communication that _most_ neighbors had, Derek had always sort of liked Danny. He was quiet and polite and hard-working. Not to mention, Derek knew he had been arrested before for hacking into peoples records when he was younger. Multiple times, might he add. That meant that Danny was a genius with technology. Surely _that_ could come in handy.

Derek swallowed thickly and nodded his head. "Ok, yeah. I, uh, I could use your help. Are you leaving right now?"

"Oh, no," Danny denied. "My mate is just craving one of those candy bars from the fancy vending machine downstairs. I'll be back up in a few minutes."

"Great. Do you mind if I pop over in ten minutes?"

"Not at all," Danny replied, his smile revealing a set of dimples.

"Great. Thanks," Derek sighed in relief, walking briskly to his door as Danny waited for the elevator.

Derek didn't bother knocking since it was his own house, but he _did_ open the door a little slowly so he didn't accidentally frighten Stiles. As he stepped inside the door, his body immediately relaxed, most of the stress melting off of his bones as he got a scent of his mates sweet, calming smell.

"There you are, big bro," Laura chirped as Derek closed the door behind him. "How was your first day back at work?"

"Fine," Derek said, shrugging. Due to the suspicious look Laura was giving him, he knew she didn't believe him. "Lot's of paperwork."

"Right," she murmured, staring at him for a few moments before shaking herself out of her reverie. "Well, me and Stiles had fun! We watched a few movies, ate some good food, I told him some embarrassing stories about you--"

Derek growled low in his throat.

Laura held up her hands in surrender. "Whoa, I kid, I kid. But we _did_ have a good time." Laura cast a smile over to where Stiles was sitting at the counter eating a banana. Then her face became a bit more serious as she leaned closer to Derek. "For some reason, he's been... _tense_. Like, he can't get comfortable. Or something's on his mind."

Derek frowned slightly as he cast a look towards his mate. He looked fine to Derek as he sat there, but Laura was right. He could just barely make out the spicy scent of anxiety, making his nose twitch.

"I thought it was because you left for a while, but I don't think that's it," Laura whispered. She shrugged a little. "Maybe you both need some quality cuddling time. So, I'll just get out of your hair. Bye Stiles! I'll see you tomorrow, cutie!"

Stiles batted his lashes shyly and gave her a small smile. "Ok."

"Thanks for watching him," Derek said gratefully before she walked out the door.

"No problem, little bro," Laura said, grinning like a shark as she breezed out the door.

Derek walked over to where Stiles was seated and sat down next to the omega. "Hey, little one," Derek said, grazing the back of his fingers gently across Stiles' cheek. "How was your day? Did you do ok without me here?"

Stiles gave him a small, amused smile. "I'm not a toddler, Derek. I can be on my own every once in a while."

Derek chuckled. "I just wanted to know if you were ok or not. Sometimes when alphas and omegas part for the first time, it doesn't go so well."

"I'm fine," Stiles replied, avoiding Derek's gaze. Derek raised his eyebrows when he caught a whiff of stress radiate off of Stiles. But it wasn't only stress. It was like... like a physical blockade had been set between them. Which was really quite ridiculous since Derek was currently rubbing small circles into Stiles' back. But Derek could, well, he could _feel_ it, even if it confused the hell out of him. It just made his wolf want to whine loudly.

"Are you sure?" Derek prompted, stroking the brunettes soft hair. "You seem sort of tense."

Stiles swallowed audibly and nodded his head yes.

Well, Derek wasn't having any of that.

Derek smiled smugly at the small squeal Stiles let out when the alpha lifted him effortlessly into his arms. The omega instantly looped his arms around Derek's neck, not wanting to be dropped. He looked at Derek quizzically, their faces inches apart. Derek just smiled at him, ignoring the weird pressure-like tension between them.

Derek didn't put him down until they were at the couch, setting him gently in the middle of the cushions as he quickly toed his shoes off. He then sat beside Stiles on the couch and carefully dragged the omega onto his lap, Stiles' back pressing firmly against Derek's chest. For a moment, he thought he had gone a bit too far with the touching due to the up tick of Stiles heartbeat. But he didn't smell any fear, and Stiles made a small, curious noise, so Derek mentally sighed in relief.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked softly, craning his neck to peer up at Derek with wide, curious eyes.

Derek smirked. "Well, growing up in my house, when someone was having a bad day, we would try to cheer them up."

Stiles blinked innocently. "By having them sit in your lap?"

Derek grinned. "Nope. By _tickling_ them."

A startled look flashed across Stiles face and he opened his mouth to say something, but Derek's fingers were quicker. They trailed down to Stiles' belly and wriggled over the cloth-covered flesh.

Stiles squealed with laughter, his little giggles making Derek's heart soar. As much as Stiles tried to squirm away from Derek's hands, he couldn't. He just ended up pressing more firmly into Derek's chest, his own hands clutching weakly at Derek's wrist.

"Ok, stop!" Stiles managed to say in between giggles. Derek just gave a small laugh himself and continued his tickling, his wolf absolutely loving the way Stiles was squirming against him.

"Derek!" Stiles squealed, his head thrown back onto Derek's shoulder. Laughter shone brightly in his eyes. Derek just laughed along with him for a few moments before he stopped with his tickle attack.

Stiles' chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, completely boneless in Derek's arms.

"Feeling better?" Derek asked.

Stiles half-heartedly flicked at Derek's wrist, slowly turning in the alphas arms so they were facing each other. He sat on Derek's muscular thighs and blinked up at him with a small smile.

"I didn't feel bad in the first place," Stiles replied, resting his hands on Derek's shoulders.

Derek smiled softly at him, gently placing his hands on Stiles' hips. "I... I know. It's just that, it feels like there's something separating us." Derek swallowed thickly and whispered, "My wolf doesn't like it... _I_ don't like it."

Stiles fingers twitched where they were resting on Derek's shoulders, and his heart skipped a few beats. The smile slowly slipped off of his face and he averted his eyes to the carpet. He tried to slowly move off of Derek's lap, but Derek wrapped an arm around his waist, keeping him firmly in place.

"Hey," Derek said gently, lifting Stiles' chin with his fingers. Amber eyes blinked up at him, filled with a look of something Derek couldn't quite place. "What's wrong, baby?"

Stiles licked at his bottom lip, eyes shifting from side to side. Derek started to get increasingly worried as the omegas heartbeat started to thump faster and faster. The weird tension was back, crackling between them with full force. It made his wolf very distraught.

"Stiles, talk to me, sweetheart," Derek urged.

Stiles blinked up at Derek with his thick lashes, cheeks turning a beautiful shade of pink as his eyes fell to Derek's lips and--

 _Oh_.

Derek understood now. Why the hell hadn't he picked up on it before? The tension between them wasn't anything bad at all, as Derek had first thought. It was just sexual tension. Stiles was nervous around him because the omega wanted a kiss, but he was too afraid to act on his impulse.

Stiles wants a kiss.

The words floated through Derek's mind like a dream, only _this_ was real life. And Stiles _really_ wanted to kiss him.

 _Well don't just sit there_ , the Lydia sounding voice hissed. _Kiss him already! After everything he's been through, he deserves to get something that he wants. You know he doesn't ask for things, so give him what he wants!_

If Derek had been in his wolf form, his tail would have been waging a mile a minute.

"Stiles," Derek said softly, a gentle smile on his lips. "Do you want to kiss me?"

The blush on his mates face got even darker as he got more flustered. He scratched awkwardly at his cheek, shyly nodding his head yes.

Derek needed no further prompting. He pulled Stiles forward against this chest and tilted his head slightly. Their lips were just inches apart, but Derek stopped before they touched, wanting to give the reigns to Stiles just so Derek _knew_ that it was really what his mate wanted.

Everything was silent, all of Derek's focus tuning into his mate. He studied Stiles' face with heavily lidded eyes, committing the sight of the omegas flushed cheeks and pretty, sparkling eyes to his memory. The sight made his stomach clench with desire as he wet his bottom lip with his tongue.

The tiny movement shifted Stiles' gaze to Derek's lips. The omega blinked languidly, a tiny, soft noise escaping from his throat before he clumsily pressed his lips against Derek's.

Derek couldn't help but smile like an idiot against Stiles' soft lips. It was perfectly clear to him that Stiles had no experience with kissing. That much was obvious by the way Stiles' lips had landed half on, half off of Derek's lips. Not to mention, his lips were too firm, like he was pressing them together for a movie kiss. Derek didn't mind one bit, though. It meant that he was the only one who had ever kissed his mate, and he could help Stiles slowly get the hang of it.

Derek broke the kiss, feeling a bit guilty at the way Stiles' face fell. He soothed him by stroking the backs of his fingers down a smooth cheek. "Like this," he whispered, guiding his own lips back to Stiles'. This time, their lips fit together perfectly, Stiles' bottom lip pillowed between both of Derek's. The soft, constant pressure made Derek sigh happily through his nose, eyes slipping closed as his hand cupped a pale cheek, his other arm around Stiles' waist and pulling him impossibly closer.

Derek held back a moan when he felt his mate thread a hand carefully through his hair, not tugging, just simply holding. It felt as if time was standing still and just the two of them existed, intertwined in such a tenderly, soft embrace. The tension that had been there just seconds before had completely vanished, making the air feel light and bubbly.

Derek couldn't help himself as he pressed his lips more firmly against Stiles', a low rumble vibrating in his chest. The sound and vibration made Stiles give a small whimper, his other hand clutching at the front of Derek's shirt.

Derek pulled away briefly, the two of them breathing heavily from the sheer intensity alone. He rested his forehead against the omegas and pressed a small kiss to the tip of the upturned nose. "I don't want you to be afraid to kiss me whenever you want to, ok? Because I can guarantee you that I'll always want to kiss you back. Hell, I've wanted to kiss you since the first day I saw you. Just don't feel like you can't because you're afraid I'll be angry or reject you. I never will, baby. _Never_."

The beautiful smile that Stiles gave him would have taken his breath away if he hadn't already been out of breath. Instead, he gave a small chuckle and surged forward once more, their lips pressing together more firmly. Stiles wrapped both of his arms around Derek's neck as the alpha deepened the kiss. For the most part, Derek kept the kisses innocent. He knew Stiles kissing him in general was a huge milestone for the both of them, and he didn't want to rush into things too quickly by slipping Stiles some tongue. As pleasurable as it may be, he would save french kissing for another day.

However, that didn't stop him from planting a small trail of kisses along Stiles' face when the omega needed to stop for some air. He placed delicate kisses along the sharp cheekbones, the pert nose, the quivering eyelids, saving the warm forehead for last. He went even further and stamped a cluster of kisses onto Stiles' neck, self-indulging himself by suckling a gentle bruise onto the pale flesh. For a few lustful seconds, he eyed the claiming bite on Stiles throat, thinking about giving it some well-deserved attention. He thought better of it though, knowing it may be a bit too much at this time. The area around the claiming bite was known to be very sexually sensitive. He would give it some much deserved attention some other day.

With that in mind, he blew lightly on the area, causing the omega to give an almost violent shiver. Derek smiled smugly to himself, gently nuzzling his mates temple. Stiles just relaxed in Derek's arms until the alpha pulled back.

"Was that ok?" Derek whispered.

Stiles looked up at him through under his thick lashes and nodded. His cheeks flushed prettily as he avoided Derek's gaze, adding in a soft voice, "I liked it."

Derek grinned like an idiot before pressing one more kiss to the omegas cheek. He could have spent the rest of the day just kissing his mate, enjoying his sweet taste and innocence. Unfortunately, he had some serious business to take care of that involved him, Danny and the internet. And speaking of Danny...

"Stiles, I need to go talk to my neighbor for just a little bit. Would you like to come with me? He's a very nice guy."

Stiles thought about it for a second before nodding. Derek smiled in response, hauling the both of them up so they were standing. Derek carefully grasped Stiles' hand in his own, squeezing gently. Stiles just gave him a small smile and padded along with the alpha. Derek felt a proud smugness settle in his chest when walking out of the door didn't even faze Stiles. The entire day was just chalk full of progress.

Stiles _did_ stand a bit behind Derek as the alpha knocked on Danny's door, but Derek just squeezed his hand comfortingly.

The metallic sound of a lock sliding out of place brought Derek's full attention to the door. There was silence for a few moments before the door swung open. Derek had a polite smile plastered on his face, all ready for Danny to open the door, but the person standing on the other side made his eyes go wide and the smile to slip off, a shocked expression taking over instead.

" _Jackson_?" Derek sputtered, not quite believing his eyes.

Jackson just smirked at him and leaned against the doorway, arms folding across his chest. "Derek, Stiles," the omega greeted, nodding his head at them with that damn smirk still in place. Then, almost comically, the smart ass look fell from his face, a startled look taking over instead as he added once more in bewildered voice, "Derek! Stiles!"

"Jackson?" Stiles' small voice spoke up, heavy with tears.

That was all the prompting Jackson needed before he was shoving Derek out of the way and wrapping Stiles in a big bear hug. Derek was bit surprised when Stiles embraced him back, but he wasn't jealous. The night when Derek had saved his mate, Jackson had been very adamant about saving Stiles, about helping him survive. Chances were that the two omegas had formed somewhat of a friendship in the Argent's basement. And considering the two were found chained up away from everyone else, they probably only had each other to talk to.

"Christ, look at you!" Jackson exclaimed, grinning at Stiles. "Fuck, you look so _good_ , Stiles! You're freaking alive! You look so healthy! Look at that nice flush on your cheeks. And is that a _hickey_ I see?" Jackson sent a vicious grin towards Derek. "You're taking care of him _really_ well, aren't you?"

Derek shook his head a little, making him slip out of his dumbfounded stupor. "Yes, I am. And it's really thanks to you. Your advice worked."

"Of course it did," Jackson replied, the cocky smirk making a reappearance. "I assume _you're_ the person Danny's waiting for?"

"Yeah," Derek responded, raising an eyebrow. "And _you're_ his mate, aren't you?"

"The one and only!"

"Ah, Derek! Come in," Danny's voice sounded as he appeared in the doorway. He blinked at Stiles for a few moments before smiling gently. "Oh, hello."

"Danny," Derek said, moving next to Stiles and placing a gentle hand on his lower back. The omega pressed closer to Derek's warmth. "This is my mate. Actually, you've met him before."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Danny apologized, giving Stiles a please-forgive-me smile. "I must have been in a hurry or something. I don't remember."

"Actually, you probably don't remember because it was a long time ago," Derek replied. "His name is Genim. Genim Stilinski, but he likes to be called Stiles."

Derek could hear Danny's breath catch in his throat, his eyes growing wide. He stared for a few moments at Derek before shifting his attention to Stiles, eyes sliding back and forth between the two of them for a full minute of silence.

"Stiles?" Danny asked, the question coming out in an odd, high tone. "Christ, I... I remember when you were a little kid, and you... I just, _fuck_ , I can't believe you're standing in front of me right now. This is so, so _surreal_." He finished his rambling and just looked Stiles up and down, his heart beating erratically in his chest.

"Babe," Jackson spoke up, stepping next to Danny. "Your heart's about to beat out of your chest. Calm down, please." He pressed a kiss to Danny's cheek, which visibly calmed the human.

"Sorry," Danny said, shaking himself out of his stupor. "Come on. Come inside."

The four of them walked into Danny's place, which mimicked the look of Derek's house, only Danny's was backwards and it had more color to it. It was also more personalized, pictures of Danny and Jackson hanging on the walls and a few items of clothing strewn about the couch and floor.

Derek felt Stiles pull away from him, only to watch him go sit on the couch with Jackson. Derek was pleased to see that Stiles was perfectly comfortable in the other omegas' presence.

"When you said the case was personal," Danny murmured to Derek. "I didn't know you meant it quite so _literally_."

"Does he look a little bit familiar?" Derek asked.

Danny cocked his head as he studied Stiles' form. "A little bit. He's got the same eyes, the same moles. He's just a bit more grown up. He's filled out. He looks... _good_."

"Thanks. I... I found him in such horrible condition. It's nice to know that I've taken good care of him."

"So, how exactly do him and Jackson know each other?"

Derek flashed Danny a worried look. "Actually, I found them both in the basement of the Argent estate. They were chained up next to each other. Stiles was unconscious and... and even though Jackson was chained up, I was almost convinced that he was going to bust out of them and attack me if I touched Stiles." Derek gave a small chuckle. "He was very protective of him."

Danny smiled gently and turned loving eyes over to Jackson. "That's Jackson for you. He sometimes acts like a douche, but it's all just an act."

"I can hear every word you're saying," Jackson growled from his spot on the couch, scowling playfully at his mate.

Danny just laughed before he led Derek down the hallway and into his office. He sat down in front of a desk with a black laptop sitting on it, motioning for Derek to take the other free chair. As Danny booted up the laptop, Derek glanced at him from out the corner of his eye.

"How long was Jackson missing?" Derek asked in a soft, delicate voice.

Danny sent him a sad smile. "Only two months, but it felt like a thousand years. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't _live._ It was like, like somebody just ripped my heart out of my chest, almost like I couldn't _breathe_." His eyes grew a bit warmer. "But then I got a call in the middle of the night about a month ago telling me that they found Jackson. The little shit was refusing to be checked over by the medical teams, said he just wanted to come home. So I booked it over there, and no sooner had I ran into the holding room when he threw himself into my arms. That... that was the first time I've ever seen him cry."

Derek chuckled. "Sounds like a lovely reunion."

Danny smiled to himself, turning his attention to the laptop to type in his password. "It was. It _definitely_ was. It resulted in the conception of our first child."

Derek's eyes widened in shock. "Oh? Jackson, he's pregnant? Wow, that's... _wow_! Congratulations."

Danny beamed at Derek, his face ridiculously happy. Derek could already tell he would make a great father. And honestly, Derek thought Jackson would too. He would be a giant mama bear, but a fantastic one.

"Yup," Danny answered. "He's about a month along now. We were both a bit shocked at first, but what _else_ were we expecting when he hadn't taken his birth control in two months? But now we're both very excited to be adding a little one to the house. Jackson's already been looking through baby catalogues. He doesn't know that I know that, though. He's been hiding them under the couch cushions, but I found them. The pile is getting progressively larger."

Derek laughed loudly, finding the mental image funny. But as his laughter faded away, he couldn't help but think about him and Stiles. Would they ever have children? Have a small litter of pups? He tried to picture it, tried picturing a tiny, squirming wolf pup nestled in Stiles' arms. Or even a human child dozing in Stiles' hold. It all made his heart flutter a little faster. The thought appealed greatly to his wolf, but he knew that babies were going to have to be put on hold for a while. Though Stiles was making progress, he definitely wasn't in the right mental state to be carrying pups anytime soon.

Danny's fingers clacking over the keyboard brought Derek's attention back to the present.

"What are you looking up?" Derek asked, scooting even closer to see the screen.

"Well," Danny replied, looking at Derek. "What you said earlier about no articles coming up for Stiles' name really made me curious. So I'm gonna try and type in his name first, just so I can sort of get a good idea about what I'm working with."

Things were silent for a few moments as Danny typed in Stiles' name. The same results as before popped up, making Derek's skin itch with the need to _understand._ Danny just frowned at the screen and scratched at his chin.

"Very strange," the human commented, concentrating hard on the Google page. "There should be _dozens_ of articles. Something is very off."

"I know," Derek murmured. "A couple pages over I found an article on how Stiles' father resigned as the sheriff."

Danny clicked over a few pages and found the same article, eyes swiftly scanning the page. "Yeah, I remember this," he commented. "This is all very familiar."

"Ok," Derek replied. "Then after looking at _that_ page, I typed Sheriff Stilinski's name into the search bar, and the results were very... _disturbing._ And confusing. I just... I don't know what to make of it."

Danny nodded, erasing Stiles' name and copying Derek's earlier actions. Derek watched as the human frowned deeply.

"That's fucking weird," Danny whispered, like he was afraid to speak any louder. "There should be tons of articles. Sure, it's been a couple years, but those articles should be front and center."

Derek cocked his head to one side and gave a small sigh. "Well, there was _one_ thing I found." Derek moved his finger over the mouse pad and clicked over a couple of pages, finding the same horrifying article that he had read earlier. As he opened the page, he heard Danny's heart tick a bit faster. most likely from reading the headline.

Danny leaned in close to the screen, a look of shock on his face. He rapidly read through the article, his heart hammering loudly in Derek's ears all the while.

"No," the human said in a flat voice when he was done reading. "No, no, no." He turned his hard expression to Derek before looking towards the doorway. "You're mate is Genim 'Stiles' Stilinski, correct?"

Derek nodded his head yes.

"And I know for a fact that he's sitting in my living room," Danny mumbled to himself, running a hand through his hair.

"Did he have any brothers or sisters?"

"No." Danny shook his head. "Just him."

"Did his father ever baby sit other children?"

"He was too busy to do that. Especially when his wife died. He had to turn into a full time dad _and_ money-maker in the blink of an eye."

"Then I don't get it," Derek groaned, pulling at his hair. "How did he supposedly kill the child that's sitting peacefully in your living room?"

They sat quietly for a few minutes, a look of concentration on Danny's face. The human stared hard at the screen for a while, as if the answers would somehow jump right out at him. He drummed his fingers on the desk for a couple of seconds before freezing. He blinked a few times before sending Derek a guilty look out of the corner of his eye.

Derek rose an eyebrow, wondering what exactly the look was--

Oh.

Derek smirked. "I'm not going to haul you off to jail if you so anything illegal right now."

Danny just gave a small sigh of relief, cracking his fingers loudly before typing some sort of code into the keyboard. Derek's eyes widened when a black screen popped up, full of a bunch of numbers and symbols that made zero sense to the werewolf.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Derek asked, nibbling his lip anxiously.

Danny gave a small snort, but kept his eyes glued to the screen. "Of course I do. Don't even try to tell me you haven't looked up my arrest records before."

Derek blushed and kept silent, causing Danny to smirk.

After a few of the longest moments of Derek's life, Danny hit the enter button and something new appeared on the black screen. There was a lot less jumbles of numbers and some of the words actually made sense to Derek. He was about to ask Danny what everything meant, but the human was concentrating hard on the text in front of him.

After a moment, the human sat back and looked at Derek. "Well, I can assure you of one thing."

"What?" Derek asked urgently.

"The page is fake. It looks pretty damn real, but it's not. Whoever created it _really_ knew what they were doing."

Derek felt a lot of tension melt from his body, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. So Stiles' father _wasn't_ a killer. That news was so good to hear. It could make Derek rest a bit easier now.

"How do you know that?" the werewolf questioned, slumping in his chair.

"Right here." Danny pointed to a set of numbers on the right-hand side of the screen. "That number is the amount of views that this page has received in total. Only three-thousand and eighty-one views. For a page that was created over four years ago, those stats should be _way_ up. Especially if it was news about the sheriff killing his kid."

"But the article _is_ a few pages in. I know not a lot of people bother looking that deep," Derek pointed out.

"Well, that's the other thing."

"There's more?" Derek asked, getting more and more curious as the seconds ticked by.

"Yes. Like I said, this person _really_ knew what they were doing. They made it appear a couple pages in _on purpose._ They probably knew the article would attract some serious attention if it was front and center. My guess is they made it appear later in the search pages because they didn't want anybody like me sniffing out their rat."

"Hm. Well, I'm glad you did. This puts my mind a little at ease," Derek sighed. "But I don't really understand why they would even bother in the first place. I mean, why create a story that could cause a big commotion if you're just going to shove it on the back burner?"

Danny shrugged, squinting at some of the finer print on the web page. "If I had to guess, I'd say they were trying to cover something up without drawing too much unwanted attention." Danny paused for a moment, a weird look crossing his face. "In fact, I'd bet my next months rent on that theory."

Derek looked at him curiously. "And you say that because...?"

"Because this article was published online from a public library in Las Vegas. And they used one of the library's computers, not their own. Whoever wrote it definitely didn't want to be caught."

"Jesus," Derek mumbled. "Do you know how many people probably visit a public library there every month?"

Danny snorted. "Do you know how many people probably visit there every _day?_ "

"Good point," Derek grumbled. "Well, doesn't the author of that article have a name on it somewhere?"

"Of course it does. But I can guarantee you already that it's fake," Danny replied matter-of-factly. "They went through all the trouble to post it from Las Vegas. They definitely weren't about to screw that all up by putting their real name."

Derek sighed. "I suppose you're right about that one. Although, this all makes me wonder about where Stiles' dad really is then."

"That I _can't_ help you with," Danny said, closing his laptop. "Sorry."

"No, no, don't be sorry. You just helped me with so much. Thank you!"

Danny smiled at him, dimples and all. "No problem." His eyes shifted towards the door and he licked his lips. In a quieter tone he added, "So, does Stiles know about any of this?"

Derek's silence was his answer.

"Right," Danny whispered, rubbing his eyes. "You should probably tell him."

"I will," Derek responded, the two of the getting up from their chairs. "Once I find Jonathan Stilinski."

"What if you don't?"

"I _will_." The look on Derek's face was so serious that Danny did nothing but nod his head in acceptance.

The two made their way back out to the living room, finding the two omegas sitting on the couch and talking. Stiles face was full of a healthy flush and his eyes shimmered with happiness. Derek smiled to himself, liking the way his mate looked so animated and lively.

"Derek, I really think you need to buy him some new clothes," Danny said, taking in the large sweatshirt and sweatpants Stiles was wearing. The sweater was so large on the omega that the collar of it was hanging off one of Stiles shoulders, exposing the lovely, pale flesh to everyone's eyes.

"Yeah, Derek," Jackson spoke up, smirk firmly in place. "He _reeks_ of you."

Danny just sighed and Derek rolled his eyes.

Derek knew that Danny was right, though. Stiles had been only wearing Derek's clothes for the last month. Yes, he smelled _wonderful_ drenched in Derek's scent, but he really needed some clothes that actually fit _him._ Not to mention Stiles just needed to get outside and get some fresh air. It wasn't good to be cooped up for so long.

Derek smiled to himself as he mentally started making plans. Yes, he would take Stiles shopping tomorrow. It would be an adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAYDAY MAYDAY!!! Guys, holy fuck! So, there's this dude on my campus who freaking looks like Dylan O'Brien in The Internship! Like, he wears the beanie, the black, thick glasses and he's even got the cute little moles! His face is a bit rounder, but I swear to god, when I first saw him I literally stopped in my tracks cuz I thought it was Dylan. Ha, and then like an idiot I just stared at him and he just blinked at me. It was all so awkward. I bet he thought I was totally drooling over him, when really I was wondering if he likes to take it up the ass. Ha, I'm sooo glad people can't hear my thoughts. I'd be screwed...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Okay, okay, OKAY. So, I must have done something reeeeally good in a past life, because this freaking college is like a Teen Wolf parallel or some shit. Like, no joke. So the dude that looks like Dylan O'Brien? Yeah, found out his name. It's Peter. Of all the freaking names, its PETER. Oh, but that's not all. Oh no. I was working with a librarian the other day, and guess what? Her name is Talia. Never in my life have I met a Talia before, but now one magically appears. I nearly shit my pants when I found out. And last, (but for some reason I highly doubt will be the last) I've met about 4 Derek's here. Yes, I know that Derek is a common name and everything, but all 4 of them have the scruffy facial hair and greek god looks. I just, guh, I can't. I CAN'T. These hot people will be the death of me. How the fuck did I end up here?
> 
> Also! This chapter is a teeny bit NSFW. Key word being teeny. Like, really teeny. Enjoy!

The next morning, the sound of Derek's alarm woke him at 7:30. He groggily reached an arm over to switch it off, not able to move his whole body due to Stiles laying on top of him.

He smiled down at the omega, feeling ridiculously happy that Stiles felt comfortable enough to cuddle with him. Derek was proud of how well Stiles was progressing. He had even initiated a few more kisses before they had drifted off to sleep the night before.

Fuck, it had made Derek _so hard._

It's not like he felt bad about being aroused by his own mate. Nope. The thing was, he had never _once_ seen Stiles hard since the moment the omega had been there. It's not as if he was going out of his way to see if Stiles was hard or not. However, they had shared a bed since day one. It's pretty obvious when your bed mate doesn't have a tent in their pants. Not to mention, Derek would be able to smell it... Sort of like he did now?

Derek stiffened a little under Stiles' weight, sniffing the air. It was quite faint, but there was no mistaking the addicting smell of Stiles' arousal hanging in the air, all sweet and musky. It made his wolf want to roll in it. Instead he let out a soft groan and his eyes rolled a little to the back of his head. Now that he was aware of Stiles' arousal, he could _feel_ it pressed up against his upper thigh, small but firm.

Derek thought that maybe perhaps it was his own reassuring words to Stiles the day before that caused the change in his body functions. Stiles had obviously not wanted any sort of physical contact while he was held by the Argent's since that could have ended in some sort of physical abuse or rape. He had to keep his guard up as best as he could while being held captive. However, Derek had made him feel quite relaxed in the last month or so, and it was obvious. Perhaps their shared kisses the day before had just been the last push that Stiles needed to feel completely at ease, which would mean that his body would feel safe enough to start functioning completely normal again.

Derek moved a small fraction, trying to see if he could somehow get up without waking Stiles. However, the movement just caused his thigh to rub against Stiles' clothed erection, the friction causing a small mewl to escape Stiles' parted lips.

"Fuck," Derek whispered as he squeezed his eyes shut. He had the strongest urge to just snake his hand down between their bodies and into the front of Stiles' underwear and just _rub._ Rub until Stiles came all over the palm of Derek's hand. Derek could just imagine what it would taste like, all hot and musky and sweet.

The urge to pleasure his mate was so strong that Derek had to dig his claws into his palms to stop himself from acting on his desires. Fuck, Stiles wasn't even _awake._ That would potentially be heading down non-consensual territory. _That_ thought was enough to kill the signs of his forming erection.

Despite not wanting to wake the omega, he gathered his mate carefully into his arms and placed him next to him on the bed, his front side pressed against the mattress. Feeling a bit bad about leaving his mate alone with a hard on, he carefully lifted Stiles' hips and placed a pillow underneath. That way, if Stiles' dream got a little more _fun_ , there would be something underneath him that he could hump into without really having to try. The angle of the pillow was high enough that just the smallest twitch from the omegas hips would be enough stimulation.

Derek smiled at the sleeping beauty, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to Stiles' forehead. He then nuzzled softly at Stiles' throat, liking how their scents blended together so well.

Stiles made a small noise when Derek's stubble accidentally scraped against his mating bite. His body gave a tiny shudder under Derek's gaze, his hips jerking forward a little bit. Derek's eyes widened as the omega let out a soft mewl, his eyes rolling beneath his lids, the smell of Stiles' release thick in the air.

Derek knew that his eyes were flickering back and forth from red to green. The fact that Stiles had just come from the tiniest pressure to his mating bite was ridiculously hot. It made something swoop low in Derek's belly, causing a tent to form once more in his boxers. He would have to experiment with that fact more when Stiles was ready.

The alpha noticed blurry, amber eyes blinking up at him, plush, red mouth slack. Derek smiled at the sleepy, blissed out face, running his fingers carefully through soft hair.

"Morning, little one. Did you have a good dream?"

Stiles just blinked a few times before shutting his mouth. He sighed blissfully through his nose as his toes curled, making Derek chuckle.

"I'll take that as a yes," Derek said, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to the omegas lips. "Do you want to change your underwear? They might get a little uncomfortable in a while."

A closed off look crossed Stiles' face as a wave of embarrassment hit Derek's nose. The omega turned his face and buried it into the pillow.

"Hey," Derek said gently, snuggling back down next to his mate. "Stiles, it's ok, baby." He pressed a lingering kiss to Stiles' right temple. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a natural body function. In fact, I'm surprised that you haven't had an erection before now."

This made Stiles look at Derek with large eyes. "You're not mad that I ruined your underwear?"

Derek let out a small laugh and nuzzled in closer. "I'd never be angry with you, babe. Besides, it's nothing a run through the wash wouldn't fix."

The tension ran out of Stiles' body, making him relaxed as he shoved his face into Derek's neck.

"I wanted..." Stiles mumbled, his words muffled by the skin of Derek's neck.

"What did you want?" Derek asked, stroking up and down the omegas back.

"I wanted... wanted it to be with you."

"What?" Derek asked, a little confused.

There was a pause as Stiles worked up the courage to talk.

"Come. The first time, I wanted it to be with you." The words were whispered, making Derek's heart melt.

Derek smiled gently and hugged Stiles to his chest, burying his face in Stiles' hair. "And how long have you been thinking of this?"

Stiles swallowed audibly. "A while. I just... I feel safe with you. You make me feel... _weird._ You make my tummy feel hot and fuzzy."

"Weird in a good way, then?" Derek questioned, ears straining to listen.

"Yeah." The word came out in a breathless whoosh.

"Why didn't you tell me, Stiles?"

"I was scared you wouldn't feel the same way..."

Derek's wanted to let out a loud whine, not liking that thought. Instead, he let out a small growl and rolled them over so Stiles was beneath him. A wide-eyed, surprised look was on Stiles' face when Derek looked down at him, caging him in with his arms.

"Do you feel that?" Derek murmured, gazing into Stiles' amber eyes as he gave a small thrust against the omegas belly.

"Y-yeah," Stiles whispered, a nervous smile on his lips.

" _You_ made that happen. That's what you do to me. We're mates, sweetheart. I'm going to want you in whatever way you'll have me." Derek paused to press a trail of kisses over Stiles' cheekbones and forehead, finally planting one on Stiles' lips after the omega gave a small whine. "If something is bothering you, I want you to tell me, ok? I'm not going to be mad at you. _Never_. Just don't feel like you can't tell me anything, all right?"

Stiles gave him a watery smile, but nodded his head yes, whispering, "Ok."

"Good," Derek said gently before he pressed another cluster of kisses to Stiles' neck, making sure to lightly dig the tip of his nose into the soft flesh. Stiles let out a squeal of laughter, the sensation obviously ticklish as he pushed weakly at Derek's shoulders. Derek just pulled back and grinned, not able to help himself as he pressed another soft, tender kiss to the omegas lips.

"Do you want to change your underwear now? You can go back to sleep afterwards since it's still early."

Stiles nodded, hands falling away from Derek as the werewolf got up and walked over to his dresser. He quickly pulled out a pair of his smaller boxers and walked back over to Stiles. He kept his composure as he spotted the half naked omega, not wanting to scare him by accidentally flashing lustful, red eyes at him. Yeah, he'd seen Stiles naked before, but it felt different now for some reason. Probably because of Stiles' little confession a few moments ago. Either way, Derek wasn't going to be weird about it. If Stiles felt comfortable enough to be naked around him, then that was all that mattered.

Stiles yawned as he pulled the clean pair of boxers up his thin thighs, followed by his sleep pants.

"Back to sleep?" Derek asked, already helping Stiles back underneath the warm covers.

"Mmhm," Stiles hummed, sleepy smile on his face.

"Good. Get some rest, little one. We're going shopping when I get back from work." Derek pressed one last lingering kiss to Stiles' warm cheek before gathering his work clothes into his arms and heading towards the bathroom.

He showered quickly, scrubbing his body with soap and his hair with shampoo. He willed his own hard on to go down, knowing he didn't have enough time to jerk off. Not only that, but Laura would no doubt tease him when she got there.

When Derek finally dried off, pulled his clothes on and walked back into his bedroom, Stiles was sound asleep, looking adorably peaceful with his relaxed face and parted lips. Derek really wanted to go over there and lick his way into that sweet little mouth, but he _really_ needed to get going.

As if on cue, a knock sounded on the door. He quickly walked towards it and swung it open, about to invite Laura in, but he stopped, a frown of confusion marring his face. Instead of finding Laura with her usual smirk plastered on her lips, he found Laura and _Jackson_ both with their arms crossed, glaring at each other.

"Um, hi?" Derek greeted, making it sound more like a question than anything.

"Who's this kid?" Laura blurted, looking Jackson up and down.

Jackson gave her a bitchy smirk, showing a hint of fang as he did so. " _This kid_ , as you so rudely put it, is Derek's neighbor, and also happens to be friends with Derek's mate. Not to mention, I'm not a kid. I'm in my twenties. I'm _also_ pregnant. So if you want to keep running your mouth, I won't be held accountable for going all mama bear on your ass."

Derek had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Not many things could really ruffle Laura, but going by the slightly scared expression on her face, it seemed as if Jackson was one of the few who could.

"Jackson, what are you doing here?" Derek asked, stepping aside to let them both in. Jackson walked by calmly and plopped himself on the couch, whereas Laura brushed by Derek in a huff and went to sit as far away from Jackson as she could.

"I know you leave for work in a few minutes. Danny told me he always sees you leaving around this time, so I thought I'd spend some time with Stiles." Jackson paused for a second, sending a small frown down to his belly before mumbling, "If it wasn't for the morning sickness you gave daddy, I would still be sleeping."

Derek chuckled lightly, feeling a wave of affection for Jackson as he watched the scary omega talk gently to his non-existent baby bump.

"He actually just fell back asleep. But I'm sure he'll be awake in a little while. Feel free to stay until he does."

"What?!" Laura spoke up. " _I'm_ supposed to be looking after Stiles. Not _him._ "

Derek sighed. "Christ, Laura. You sound like a twelve year old. You can both share Stiles. I'm sure he'd be delighted to have both of you here. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to work."

"Fine," Laura grumped, sighing dramatically as she slumped down in a chair. "But that doesn't mean I have to talk to him."

"Good god," Derek mumbled, grabbing his keys and his briefcase. "I'll see you guys later. And _please_ don't kill each other. These are white carpets. It would be a bitch to get bloodstains out of them."

That said, Derek strode out the door, leaving the two werewolves glaring (on Laura's part), and evilly smirking (on Jackson's part) at each other.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek sighed impatiently at the man in front of him, whom was just _staring_ at him.

"Let me get this straight," the man, Brunski, said in a flat voice. "You think that I'm the leader of a _drug ring_? Christ, I _wish._ Then maybe I wouldn't have to work in this wacky shack."

Derek grit his teeth and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lydia had sent him to investigate Brunski earlier in the day, telling him that when Derek was done he could go home for the day. The man had been accused of being the leader of a highly wanted drug ring that was making it's way through California. However, the person that accused Brunski must have been a complete and utter _moron._ The childish man sitting in front of him was nowhere _near_ intelligent enough to pull off anything of the sort.

"Do I need to repeat the question?" Derek bit out through clenched teeth, wondering what exactly the mans neck would feel like squeezed between Derek's fingers. "It's a simple yes or no question. If you just answer it, then we won't have to waste any more time."

Brunski had the nerve to let out a big sigh and cross his arms. "No. I'm not the leader of a drug ring. Though if I _was_ , the last thing I would do would be admit it to the feds."

Derek sighed impatiently and stood up. "I think we're done here."

Brunski just blinked at him, ignoring the gaggle of voices coming from the doorway that belonged to a few Eichen House patients.

"So you'd just let me off the hook like _that_? No further questions?"

"Sir," Derek growled. "I'm a werewolf. I can _hear_ that you're telling the truth. Why? Would you _like_ me to haul you off to jail for something? Hm? Let's say, for sheer stupidity?"

Brunski was about to respond, but something at the door caught his eye. "Malia, if you keep eavesdropping, you're going into solitary confinement!"

Derek turned towards the doorway just in time to see a short, brown-haired girl curl her lip back and let out a small growl. Ah. She was a werewolf.

"I'm warning you," Brunski threatened, taking a step closer.

There was a another girl standing next to the so called "Malia" chick. She was pale, very thin and had long, snarly, black hair. She tugged instantly at the werwolfs sleeve, urging her to walk away.

"Come on," the girl whispered, lips close to Malia's ear. "You don't want to go in there _again_ , do you?"

The girls words seemed to have calmed the werewolf, prompting her to grasp the human girls hand in her own and walk back down the hallway.

Brunski turned back to Derek. "Like I said. I _wish_ I was the leader of a drug ring. Then I wouldn't have to deal with the crazies every day."

Derek frowned and walked towards the door. "Yeah, we're done here, Mr. Brunski. When you become the leader of a drug ring, let me know."

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek sat in his car with his hands on the steering wheel, just staring at the building in front of him.

"Are we _really_ gonna do this?" he whispered to himself, sighing. "Yeah. We're doing this for Stiles. Let's do this."

Derek quickly glanced at his watch, seeing he still had a few hours before his usual work hours were over. He had time to go inside the building and ask a few questions. Though, he hadn't really thought this through like he usually did when going to investigate people, so he'd just have to pull the questions out of his ass.

As Derek stepped out of the car and started walking towards the Beacon Hills Police Department, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He knew he shouldn't be hiding this from Stiles. He _really_ shouldn't be. It was Stiles' father after all. But he just didn't want to upset the omega by all the things he had found so far. Not to mention, the situation _definitely_ needed further investigating. There was something fishy about the entire story all around. Derek just wanted to _understand._

He didn't hesitate before pushing open the doors, sliding his authoritative look onto his face. He gave a quick glance around the place, never actually having been there. Derek worked in a different building with only FBI agents, never actually having a reason to visit the police department yet. Until now.

The main room was small. It had a tiled floor, a couple of chairs shoved against the wall, a few potted plants hanging from the ceiling. Nothing that really screamed _police department!_ The only thing giving away the buildings actual use was the metal desk by the far wall with a male officer sitting behind the desk, writing something in a file.

The man had looked up when Derek had walked in, giving him a tense smile. "Can I help you?"

Derek took a deep breath as he stepped up to the desk, nodding his head. "Yeah. I was wondering if you've ever heard of a man named Jonathan Stilinski. He used to work here a few years ago. He was the sheriff."

The man shook his head no, shrugging his shoulders a little. "Sorry, no. I just started working here about four months ago. I'm sure the current sheriff knows who he is. You could talk to her."

"Could I?" Derek asked, hoping he didn't sound too eager.

"Sure," the officer replied, standing up and motioning for Derek to follow him. "I know she's not busy right now. She just got back from her break."

Derek was led down a small corridor, which eventually opened up to a large room with a bunch of cubicles. They went past all the cubicles and towards a door in the back corner, a sign reading "Sheriff" nailed to the door.

The man rapped his knuckles on the door three times before opening it, revealing a woman with black hair tied in a tight bun sitting at a desk covered in paperwork.

"Teresa? This gentlemen would like to speak with you. Are you free?"

The woman, Teresa, gave a curt nod and gestured for Derek to come in.

"Thanks," Derek told the man before he walked off. He entered the room and sat down in a free chair, extending his hand towards the woman. "The name's Hale. Derek Hale."

Teresa gave him a tight smile and shook his hand, replying with, "Teresa Marlowe. How can I help you?"

Derek eyed the stack of papers on her desk, giving her a charming smile. "I can see that you're very busy, so I'll make this quick. Did you know a man named Jonathan Stilinski?"

She paused for a moment, mulling the question over. "The old sheriff, right?" Derek nodded, encouraging her to go on. "Well, I met him a few times, but I didn't know him all that well."

"So, you wouldn't happen to know where he's been for the past couple of years?"

Teresa shook her head no. "Can't say that I do. Sorry. All I know is that he resigned because of some family issues."

Derek sighed, a wave of disappointment running through his body. "All right. Well, I guess that's all I really wanted to know. Thank you for your time."

"No problem," Teresa replied, giving him a small smile. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you. Good luck, though."

Derek nodded, standing up and walking back out of the door. He closed it gently behind him before turning around to walk back to the main entrance. However, he stopped when he noticed three officers standing by him, all just _staring_.

Derek rose an eyebrow, not understanding what this was about.

"Sorry," one of the guys blurted, taking a hesitant step towards Derek. "But I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. You asked for a Jonathan Stilinski, right?"

Derek looked at them, his heart pounding at the curious and _hopeful_ looks on their faces.

"Uh, yeah," Derek replied. He swallowed thickly before continuing. "Did... did you know him?"

The two men standing further away exchanged a nervous glance.

The one closer to him nodded his head yes, eyes wide. "Yeah. We knew him."

"Do you know where he is?"

The man narrowed his eyes at him. "Why? Are you trying to cause trouble for him?"

"No. Nothing like that," Derek replied, giving a small sigh. "I work for the FBI. I'm trying to get ahold of him to tell him that his son has been found. I just can't seem to track him down."

"Y-you found _Stiles_?" one of the other men spoke up. The name on his badge read _Aaron Carson._

Derek blinked, nodding. "Yeah. I take it you're all good friends with his father?"

There was a moment of shocked silence that filled the room, nobody moving or talking. They all just looked at Derek with pale faces.

"We _were_ ," said the gentleman that hadn't talked yet. He stepped closer to Derek, his badge reading _Carl Lewis._ "We were all good friends. But he... after his son disappeared, he resigned."

"Yeah," said the guy who had originally spoken up, _Jordan Parrish._ "He resigned. Then, then it was like one day he just up and left. One day the yard was full of lawn furniture, and the next it was all gone, replaced with a for sale sign."

"We all tried contacting him," Aaron spoke up, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "But his cell number was disconnected, so we had no way of knowing where he went. We even tried asking his realtor if she knew where he had moved. She didn't have a clue. He told nobody."

"He just vanished," Carl interrupted, sad eyes looking at the floor. "I always thought we were all close friends, but apparently not close enough if he couldn't tell us where he was going."

"He could have just wanted to be alone," Jordan replied. "You know, not have anyone breathing down his neck after everything that had happened with his son going missing."

"C'mon, Parrish. You know damn well that John wasn't that type of person," Aaron argued. "He knew damn well that we would be worried about him."

Derek rose an eyebrow. "So, you think he was taken?"

"Taken? No. That doesn't explain how he could have signed the paperwork to sell his house. No, not taken..."

"... _but?_ " Derek prompted.

Aaron just looked around the circle of men, his gaze landing on Derek last. He gave a weak shrug. "But _something._ John may have sold his house without letting us know about it, but I know damn well that he would have contacted us eventually and let us know he was ok."

Jordan and Carl both nodded their head in agreement.

"So you think something happened?" Derek asked.

"Yeah," Jordan replied. "I do."

Derek thought for a moment, a question on the tip of his tongue.

"If I give you some information, will you answer a question of mine in return?"

The three looked at him suspiciously before they slowly nodded their heads yes.

Derek smiled. "Great."

He spent the next 20 minutes showing the three men the website that he had found and explaining why tit was fake. They all were outraged upon reading about John murdering Stiles. Only, their rage was directed at the person who had written the article and not at the sheriff.

In exchange for his information, Derek asked for the address of the sheriff's old house. Needless to say, when their little chat was over, Derek left the station with a piece of paper with an address written on it, and leaving behind some very angry officers who would no doubt try and get to the bottom of the sheriffs case.

As Derek got back into his car, he placed the paper inside of his dashboard. He would drive by the property tomorrow, but for now, he had an omega to take shopping.

**XOXOXOXO**

"Are you ok, Stiles?" Derek asked, a bit worried about his mate.

Stiles was safely strapped into his passenger seat, seatbelt tight across his chest. However, his body was twisted towards the window, face and hands pressed up against the glass.

"There's so many trees," was Stiles' answer, voice full of awe. "And flowers. Flowers are pretty."

Derek chuckled. "If you think the flowers on the side of the road are nice, you should see the Flower Garden. How about I take you there after we're done shopping?"

Stiles turned large, amber eyes towards Derek. "You'd do that?"

Derek smiled at the hope in Stiles' voice. He reached over and carefully laced their fingers together. He liked the feel of Stiles' small hand intertwined with his own. "I promise, little one."

Stiles gave him a goofy grin and sat back comfortably in the chair, sneaking small peaks at Derek from the corner of his eye every now and then. It was freaking adorable.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while until Derek pulled up to the shopping mall. It was a smaller mall, with only about 15 stores or so. He didn't want to take Stiles to the big mall off of the freeway because he wasn't sure how Stiles would respond to that much people. Hell, he wasn't sure how stiles would respond to _anyone_ at the moment. Derek just crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

Derek was surprised when Stiles flung his door open and stepped out without hesitation. He then just stood there, looking at the building in front of him.

Derek quickly got out himself, shutting the door before walking over to his mate and pressing a soft kiss to his temple. He wrapped a protective arm around his waist and pulled him close to his side.

"Stiles, if you feel uncomfortable at any time, I want you to tell me. We can just forget about the clothes and leave, ok?"

"Kay," Stiles replied uncertainly as he stared at the building and all the cars around it.

Derek slowly led them towards the double doors, keeping his arm around Stiles' waist. He listened intently to Stiles' heartbeat, making sure there were no spikes of fear. Fortunately, there were not.

Derek managed to get him into one of the stores without him being scared. Though, Derek was sure Stiles' lack of fear had more to do with his curiosity of the things around them than anything.

Derek let Stiles look around at anything that caught the omegas eye. He also grabbed a handful of clothing items that Stiles seemed interested in. Mostly his arms were draped with pairs of boxers and two packages of socks, but he _did_ also grab a small, stuffed puppy that Stiles' gaze had lingered on a little too long.

Once he paid for all the stuff, they moved on to another store. Stiles was a little less hesitant upon entering the second one than he had been the first one. He still didn't stray from Derek's side, but that was ok. They would tackle one thing at a time.

All was going well as they looked through a wrack of sweatpants. That is, until someone just happened to sneeze really loudly.

The loud, abrupt noise caused Stiles to let out a yelp and fling himself towards Derek, cowering against his chest. Derek dropped the shopping bags he was carrying in exchange for embracing the shaking omega.

"You're all right," Derek whispered into Stiles' ear, holding him protectively against his chest. "Somebody just sneezed, that's all. You're safe with me."

Stiles' response was to try and burrow his face even more into Derek's chest. Derek couldn't help the small chuckle that slipped from his lips. Regaining his composure, he let out a quiet rumble, the sound vibrating through his chest and calming Stiles' nerves.

"Do you want to leave?" Derek murmured into Stiles' hair.

The omega hesitated a moment before shaking his head no. "N-no. I was just startled. That's all."

Derek smiled and hugged him tight, giving Stiles' mating bite a soft nuzzle. Stiles shivered slightly before pulling away, intertwining their fingers together instead.

"You ok?" Derek asked, giving Stiles' hand a squeeze

"Yeah. We can continue."

They exchanged a smile as they resumed looking for more clothes. They hit three more shops after the little incident, no other problems popping up. Derek had bought Stiles a couple pairs of comfy sweatpants, some pajamas, some t-shirts, and some sweaters. Oddly, Stiles didn't seem to be fond of jeans, so there was only one pair of those. Other than that, their little shopping trip had been a success. Stiles seemed to have gotten more comfortable with walking around other people very quickly. Though, Derek was positive that that had to do with the fact that he was beside him the entire time.

After leaving the mall, he put all the bags in the trunk and made sure Stiles was secured safely into the passenger seat. He then proceeded to drive them in the direction of the Flower Garden. He could sense Stiles' excitement in the air. It made Derek a little sad knowing that something as simple as a flower could make Stiles happy. It also made him angry, knowing that Stiles had been locked in a basement for who knew how long. Long enough to not get his fill of flowers, at least.

Almost a half an hour later, Derek pulled the car into the Flower Gardens parking lot. He glanced over at Stiles to see his reaction.

Stiles had a silly grin on his face as he looked at the hundreds of flowers, not quite knowing which way to look. Derek didn't blame him. The place had about 10 different trails that you could walk through, all with different kinds of flowers. Somewhere in the middle of the flower field, there was a small gazebo, available to anyone who wanted to sit and take everything in. It was quite beautiful.

"Wanna get out and look around?" Derek asked.

Stiles bobbed his head up and down rapidly, nearly tripping as he tried to get out of the car. The two of them walked hand in hand towards one of the trails, large, purple flowers sprouting on either side of it. As they made their way down the trail, the smile on Stiles' face never left. It was precious, and it made Derek feel a little emotional. Stiles must have noticed because he stopped walking and stared curiously up at Derek.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing," Derek replied, shaking his head slightly. He gently grabbed ahold of Stiles' waist and pulled him closer. "I'm just happy. That's all."

Stiles just blinked up at him for a few moments. Then his fingers clenched in the material of Derek's shirt as he rocked up onto his tiptoes and brushed a soft kiss to Derek's lips. When he pulled away, Derek's lips chased after his, connecting them once more in a firmer lock.

They just stood there like that, liplocked, for what felt like minutes, when really it was probably just seconds. Derek finally mustered up the courage to give a small lick across the seam of Stiles' lips. The omega made a small noise in his throat, but ever so slowly parted his lips, granting Derek access.

He slowly deepened the kiss by licking his way into Stiles' mouth in little increments. He inhaled sharply when Stiles' tongue flickered shyly against his own. He fought back a smug grin at the feeling, instead choosing to brush their tongues together once more.

Stiles seemed to catch on quickly, their kisses becoming more deep and insistant. Stiles' hands scratched at Derek shoulders, fingernails digging into the flesh. Derek just gave a low growl in response, sending a dizzying wave of Stiles' arousal into the air. It made him want to burrow into the smell, made him want to be greedy and have the scent all to himself. Just like the sweet taste of Stiles' mouth. Derek wanted _more_.

Before Derek knew what he was doing, his hands fell to the skin underneath Stiles' thighs, hoisting the omega up and holding him against his upper body. The movement had a different effect on Stiles, for their kiss broke as his mate squealed in laughter.

Derek huffed out a laugh, resting their foreheads together as they both took the time to breathe.

"That was fun," Stiles commented, cheeks flushed beautifully.

"What was? The kissing, or me picking you up?" Derek teased.

"Both," Stiles replied, licking his lips eagerly before pressing another kiss to Derek's lips. "But I like the kissing better."

Derek threw his head back and laughed, agreeing with the omega. Seeing the happy look on Stiles' face made _him_ happy. He only ever wanted to see smiles on Stiles' face. The look suited him.

Derek splashed a bunch of kisses on Stiles' neck in rapid succession, making Stiles laugh again and try to jerk away from how ticklish it felt.

Eventually, Derek let him back down to the ground, but wound their fingers together again. "Do you want to walk around and see more flowers?"

Stiles eagerly nodded his head yes, looking up at Derek with adoration.

"Then that's what we'll do," Derek commented, giving his mate a small wink. "We can do more of the _other_ stuff later."

Stiles' blinding smile was what he got for an answer.

The day had turned out to be quite the success, and it was ending beautifully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (⊙_⊙)
> 
> This was the look on my face earlier today when I just happened to be walking (stalking) behind the Dylan O'Brien lookalike. Why, you ask? Well, my feathered friends, because he was wearing sweatpants. And definitely no underwear beneath them. No ass has ever looked finer. Please excuse me while I go change my panties...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all of your amazing support for this story. Sorry that this update took forever and a half, but things at school have been freaking crazy.  
> Lol, wow. I'm honored that you guys all ship me with Peter (the Dylan O'Brien look-a-like). For those of you who are telling me to go and talk to him, thanks for the encouragement, but I CAN'T! I'm too much of a chicken shit. However, a few days ago, I was in the cafeteria with my friend and the place was packed so we were wandering around trying to find a place to sit. As we rounded the corner, he was literally sitting right there. Eye contact was made. I repeat: Eye contact was made. Well, you know. Before I blushed super hard, looked away and awkwardly laughed to myself as I looked at the floor. He probably thinks I'm nuts. But at least I know for a fact that he does indeed know I exist. Know why? Cuz ever since I first spotted him, I freaking bump into him everywhere. Like, if he doesn't recognize my face by now, then he's painstakingly oblivious. Also, when I saw him eating in the cafeteria. He was sitting with another boy. The other boy was a bit smaller, but he was a cutie, and they were both watching something on one of their phones and laughing about it. Hm. I think I ship it. Crud.

For the remainder of the week, Derek was swamped with paperwork and people who needed to be interrogated. That said, he didn't have any time to go and make a trip to Stiles' old house. He would have to do it on Monday.

Despite the fact that Derek had only been back to work for a few days, he was grateful for the weekend. He felt completely exhausted from all of the files of information he had had to read through. It was nothing a few days of sleeping in wouldn't fix.

Aside from his own problems, Derek was nervous because Stiles wasn't feeling very well. Derek could tell that he wasn't _sick_ sick. It wasn't the flu or anything like that. He just had a bit of temperature and he had complained about being achy. Derek had immediately sucked the pain away, but that only lasted for so long. He did it every hour or so, but the odd pain just kept re-appearing beneath Stiles' skin. Derek wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

Derek awoke lazily on Saturday morning, stretching his arms above his head, toes curling. After a huge yawn, he swiveled his head to look at Stiles, surprised to find the omega awake, small bags under his eyes. Derek frowned and immediately rolled onto his side, propping himself up with one arm while the other snaked over to Stiles' face and cupped his cheek.

"Babe, did you sleep at all?" he asked, wide awake in a matter of seconds.

Stiles smiled weakly. "A little. My back just hurts a lot."

"Fuck," Derek replied, moving his hand to the small of Stiles' back and pulling his mate closer to him. "Where? Lower?"

"Yeah. Just a little lower."

Derek moved his hand until it was against the skin right above the curve of Stiles' ass. He immediately took the pain, flinching at the amount of pain that surged up his arm for the briefest moment.

"Stiles, why didn't you wake me up? You shouldn't have to suffer through that."

Stiles gave a weak shrug before mumbling, "It didn't really work last time."

Derek rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Stiles gave a small sigh. "I mean, when you took my pain yesterday, it didn't really go away. It just kept coming back a few minutes later. But before it was all over my body. Now it's just in my lower back."

Derek narrowed his eyes as he thought, an old memory gripping his mind. Stiles' condition sounded a lot like what he had been taught in Sex Ed as a teenager. When an omegas body was mature enough, it would start to produce its own slick. It usually happened around the time they were in their early teens, but on some occasions it could come later. One of the major signs was a severe back ache. That was due to all of the omegas muscles tightening and getting ready to relax once more, bringing out slick with it. A few hours before it would leak out, it would feel like a giant pressure, like something was waiting to burst. But once it _did_ come out, the pressure would disappear.

Derek awkwardly cleared his throat, allowing his knuckles to dig into the aching flesh of Stiles' back. "Stiles... did you ever produce any natural lubricant yet?"

Stiles squinted his eyes in concentration before shaking his head no. He then looked up at Derek through his lashes, a pretty flush staining his cheeks. "I-is that what's happening?"

Derek pressed a kiss to a pink cheek. "I'm sure of it. You have the symptoms. But don't worry. It won't trigger you to go into heat. It's just letting your body let you know that it's now mature enough to carry babies."

As Derek finished the sentence, he couldn't help but let one of his thoughts nag at him. Usually omegas matured around 13 or 14, and on some rare occasions they matured around age 9. That knowledge made Derek wonder just exactly how old Stiles was. If it turned out he was really young, Derek knew for a fact he was going to feel guilty for basically taking advantage of a child.

"Stiles," Derek spoke up, speaking slowly. "Can you tell me how old you are, baby?"

Stiles blinked at him and frowned before asking. "What's the date?"

"June nineteenth, two-thousand fourteen."

After a few moments of contemplative silence, Stiles whispered, "Sixteen."

Derek inhaled sharply, a little startled. He quickly composed himself, breathing calmly through his nose. Sixteen still made quite the age difference between them, but it was a hell of a lot better than Stiles barely being a teenager. That fact calmed Derek's nerves immensely.

"I turn seventeen next month," Stiles said as he wiggled closer to the alpha, a note of happiness in his voice. "On the twelfth."

"July twelfth, huh?" Derek asked. He smiled as he nuzzled into Stiles' warm neck. "I'll have to plan something special."

The omega giggled. "I don't even remember what it's like to celebrate my birthday. It's been so long..."

Derek licked a strip up Stiles' mating bite. "How long?"

There was silence for a few more moments. Then, "I was taken when I was ten."

Derek's eyes widened as he pulled back, startled. "T-ten?"

Stiles' face drooped at the loss of contact, making Derek feel horrible. "Yeah," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact. "B-but I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I'm still a child, mentally if not physically. But you're wrong."

Derek held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't say anything, Stiles."

Derek was surprised when the omega shot him a small glare, his nose scrunching adorably. Secretly, Derek was pleased that Stiles was getting angry. The omega shouldn't have to bottle everything up inside of him.

"I know you were thinking it," Stiles continued, his body stiff as Derek pulled him onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him. "But it's not true. When I... when I was locked down there, fortunately there were a couple of teachers locked up with me. One for elementary, and the other for high school. They taught me a lot of things while I stayed there. Mary, the high school teacher, even told me I was really sharp."

A soft smile made it's way onto Derek's lips upon hearing the slight note of smugness in Stiles' voice. It was cute hearing Stiles be passionate about something. It made his cheeks glow and his eyes sparkle.

"I bet you are," Derek murmured, running the tip of his nose slowly over the shell of Stiles' ear. "I bet you're really smart."

Stiles hummed in agreement, reaching over to grab the stuffed puppy that Derek had bought for him, and cuddled it to his chest. Derek couldn't help but be a bit jealous of the fake ball of fluff.

"I am," Stiles continued. "I can even give you a whole report on the history of the male circumcision."

Derek barked out a laugh, the entire bed jiggling from his laughter. Out of all the things Stiles could have said, that was definitely the last thing Derek had expected to hear from his mate.

Stiles looked up at him innocently and batted his lashes. "What?"

"Nothing," Derek replied, smiling as he pressed a kiss to a mole covered cheek. "You're just too cute."

Stiles smiled a little at the compliment, but then his face become serious once more. "So when I say I'm not mentally like a little kid, I mean it. And I _don't_ want to be treated like one."

"I believe you," Derek murmured, nuzzling a soft cheek. " _Especially_ if you can give me a report on the history of male circumcision."

Stiles elbowed him lightly in the ribs, but smiled anyways, pressing a shy kiss to the alphas lips. And _that_ was how they ended up having a full-blown makeout session.

Their kisses had started out slow and sweet, but once Stiles set his stuffed puppy to the side, Derek got a whole armful of Stiles. Their chests were pressed together, Stiles' arms around Derek's neck as their lips stayed glued together. After a while, their kisses got deeper and more frantic, like they couldn't get enough of each other. If felt like every part of Derek that was touching Stiles was electrified, making the experience all that more enjoyable.

They spent a good 20 minutes like that, pressed against each other, pulling and grabbing and caressing. Derek could feel Stiles' hands fluttering about, sometimes grabbing the alphas hair, other times cupping his jaw, trying to pull Derek _closer, closer, closer._

Derek responded by letting out a deep, hungry growl, grabbing at Stiles' back, pulling at his hips, moving them both until Stiles was underneath him, panting for air. Derek just growled once more, burying his face into the boys neck and using his tongue and teeth to suck a mark onto the creamy skin.

" _Derek_ ," Stiles groaned breathlessly, carding his fingers through Derek's hair as he simultaneously wrapped his legs around the alphas waist.

Derek smiled viciously against Stiles' neck before moving his attention to the other side of the pale throat, right by the claiming bite. He gently tilted Stiles' head up and to the side before he dove back in a licked a slow, wet stripe across Stiles' claiming bite, making sure to give a tiny, sharp suck at the end.

The noise Stiles made would forever be ingrained in Derek's mind. It was a high-pitched whine, Derek's name spilling from his lips. The noise made Stiles sound like a naughty little thing, not innocent whatsoever.

Innocent.

Derek froze immediately. He knew Stiles had never done anything like this before. Just because he _sounded_ like he wanted it didn't mean he _actually_ did, despite the hard evidence that was pressing up against Derek's abs. And, _hell._ Derek was hard as a rock too, but he needed to get Stiles' verbal approval before he did _anything_.

"Stiles," Derek said into Stiles' ear, voice low with arousal. "Look at me for a second."

Stiles' fingers scrabbled at Derek's muscled back for a few seconds before he turned his head a fraction, both of their noses touching as their heavy-lidded gazes met.

"Are you sure you want to do this, baby? I know it feels good, but are you mentally ready for something like this?"

For a moment, Derek silently cursed at himself for bringing up the whole 'mentally ready' thing. Stiles had just stated that he didn't want to be treated any differently because of how young he had been when he was taken. But Derek hadn't meant it like _that._ Doing something like this for the first time was a big step, and Derek just wanted to be sure he was ok with it. Thankfully, Stiles must have understood because he gave Derek a tiny pat on the back and flashed him a small, shy smile.

"I'm sure," he replied, voice small but strong. "I... I feel comfortable with you. I want you to t-touch me." Stiles cheeks immediately burned a pretty red color as his eyes grew a bit wider. "Um, I... I don't think I'm ready to, um, have, uh--"

"Sex?" Derek supplied for him, running a soothing finger down Stiles' cheek.

Stiles' mouth slid shut with an audible 'click,' averting his eyes in embarrassment.

"Hey, that's completely fine," Derek answered, feeling grateful when Stiles' eyes trained on him once more. "If you don't want to do something, all you have do is tell me. Besides, I'm not sure if full on sex would be ok for you right now. I don't quite know if it would mess up the way your body is trying to produce it's natural lubricant."

"Oh," Stiles sighed, body sagging a little in relief.

Derek planted a kiss on the cute, upturned nose, slowly trailing one of his hands down Stiles' belly, not stoping until he was gently cupping the omegas clothed erection. Stiles' eyelids fluttered for a moment, his mouth going a little slack.

"This ok?" Derek whispered, his palm alternating between soft and firm pressure against Stiles' crotch.

"Mmhm," Stiles breathed, one of his hands tightening it's grip in Derek's shirt, the other trailing up to his mouth so he could nibble on his thumbnail.

That's all the encouragement Derek needed to lower his head back to Stiles' neck, mouthing wetly at it. His hand kept up a steady rhythm of pressure on Stiles' crotch, ignoring his own hardness in exchange for reveling in the sweet, heady scent of Stiles' arousal.

Derek stopped his caressing when he felt Stiles' hand lightly grab his wrist. He pulled back and looked at Stiles, afraid that he would see fear in the omegas eyes. "All right?" he asked, voice rough and low.

Stiles nodded, searching Derek's face for something before he whispered, "You can _touch_ me, Derek."

Derek blinked for a moment, a little confused. But it was when Stiles' hand slowly guided Derek's to the elastic of his boxers that Derek finally got the hint. Derek growled low in his throat, feeling it rumble through his chest. He quickly sat back on his heels and hooked his fingers beneath the elastic. He shot a smile up at Stiles' flushed face before ever so slowly pulling them down the slim hips. A small patch of curly, brown hair was revealed to his eyes, leading to the small dick that sprung up happily after being released from it's confines.

Derek groaned at the sight, noticing the small bead of pre-cum that dribbled down Stiles' shaft. His own dick throbbed painfully in his sleep pants, causing him to clench his teeth.

"I wanna see you too," Stiles blurted, turning bright red.

Derek let out a laugh, partially because it was funny and cute, but also partially because he was glad he could _finally_ free his dick from it's constraints. Without being told twice, he slipped his own pants and boxers down his hips and kicked them off onto the floor somewhere. Oddly nervous, he looked back up at Stiles, whose mouth was a little slack as his gaze focused on Derek's crotch.

When the omega noticed Derek watching him, his mouth snapped shut with an audible click and he swallowed hard. "Sorry," he blurted. "It's just... you're so _big_. Um, is that actually going to fit inside me?"

Derek barely contained the moan that threatened to break out of his lips from Stiles' words. Now he was thinking about it, about how it will feel when he eventually does have sex with Stiles. He wondered how nice and tight Stiles would feel squeezing around his dick, all hot and slick.

"Mm, yeah," Derek breathed, crawling back over Stiles' form, his dick hovering right above Stiles' own quivering erection. "Our bodies were made for each other, babe. It's gonna feel _so right_."

Stiles let out a high whine, twining his arms around Derek's neck. Derek let out another rumble, slipping both arms beneath Stiles' back and carefully resting on top of him, just their upper bodies touching. Derek drew his face back until the tips of their noses were touching, staring into each others half-lidded eyes. He slowly lowered his hips until their cocks touched each other for the first time, the skin on skin contact sending a shiver down Stiles' spine.

"I don't think this is gonna last very long," Stiles whispered, licking his lips.

Derek chuckled. "Neither do I."

And that was that. Derek pressed a kiss to his mates lips as his hips went to work, knees planted firmly into the mattress so he could get good leverage to roll his hips. And roll them he did. There was nothing slow and steady about the movement. It was all fast and fluid, his hips snapping sharply over and over again as he chased the building feeling of pleasure pooling low in his gut. Their combined pre-cum made the slide very pleasurable for both parties. The high keens that were tumbling from Stiles' mouth spurred Derek on, especially when they kept getting higher and higher, letting the alpha know his mate was mere seconds away from coming.

On one particularly toe-curling thrust, Derek bit gently on Stiles' claiming bite, and he watched the smaller boy come undone beneath his hands. Stiles threw his head back against the pillow and let out a loud moan, his arms tightening around Derek's broad shoulders and his fingernails scratching at Derek's skin. Though Derek was still thrusting downwards at a rapid pace, the headboard of the bed smacking loudly against the wall, Stiles' hips acted of their own accord and arched off of the bed. Stiles' legs, which had been wrapped around Derek's waist, seemed to have locked up upon orgasm, causing Derek to let out a frustrated growl when the friction was put to a stop. He quickly solved the problem by gripping Stiles' waist in his hands to hold him still, giving a few more powerful thrusts of his hips. He then made the mistake of looking at Stiles' cute, blissed out face, lips kiss-raw and cherry red, leading to his own orgasm.

His own climax took him by surprise. He usually lasted a _lot_ longer when handling things on his own, but then again, this time it was with _Stiles._ The orgasm had been punched out of him just by looking at the sheer bliss on Stiles' face, making him lose his breath for a few moments as stars swam beneath his eyelids. As warm tingles continued racing up and down his spine, Derek surged forward and buried his face in Stiles' neck, being careful not to crush him with his weight.

The only thing Derek heard in the room was their combined heavy breathing. The only thing he felt was Stiles shivering beneath him, coaxing Derek out of his post-orgasmic high. He wasn't sure if the shivering was a side affect from the orgasm, or if Stiles had regretted it and was afraid. Either way, Derek was a bit worried. So he fought his way through the lovely fog in his brain and sat up, worried eyes training on Stiles.

He couldn't fight the pleased grin that made it's way to his lips when he realized that Stiles was completely fine. The omega was just lying there, completely relaxed, a dazed smile on his face as shivers rippled through his body every few seconds. His hair looked sex-messy and his pretty, brown eyes were half-lidded but still oozing warmth. A bubbly giggle escaped Stiles' mouth under Derek's gaze, showing off his white teeth. Derek had the biggest urge to kiss Stiles silly, kiss every inch of his body and trace every beautiful mole with his tongue.

Instead, Derek just chuckled and lightly traced a finger down the middle of Stiles' belly, their combined semen thoroughly coating his finger. Derek was a bit surprised when Stiles arched up underneath the finger and gave a soft mewl, shivering almost violently.

"Goodness," Derek murmured, not even thinking twice before he licked the salty semen from his finger. "You're really sensitive afterwards, aren't you?"

Stiles just giggled again in reply, his body settling down on the blankets once more. He blinked his eyes tiredly at Derek, but the smile never left his face.

Derek bent down and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to Stiles' lips, thinking it was probably all the omega could handle at the moment while his body was still swimming in it's own post-orgasmic high. "Be right back," Derek rumbled gently, getting up from the bed and walking towards his bathroom, unashamed of his nakedness. He quickly grabbed a washcloth and wet it down before heading back to the bedroom. The sight of Stiles' naked body all relaxed and pliant resting on the bed made Derek's heart skip a few beats. It also made warmth pool in his gut once more, but he ignored it. It would have to wait till later.

He crawled over Stiles' body, stopping to press a bunch of kisses to his mates neck. Stiles squealed in delight, weakly batting at his chest to stop the beard burn Derek was giving him. Derek just chuckled and sat back on his heels, gently wiping away the semen from Stiles' belly. Not caring where it landed, Derek lobbed the washcloth in the general direction of his hamper before lying down next to Stiles and pulling the covers over them. Much to Derek's pleasure, Stiles snuggled up to his chest right away, blinking up at the alpha with his beautiful orbs.

"You ok?" Derek asked, using Stiles' moles to play connect-the-dots with his fingertip. "Are you sure you're ok with something like this?"

Stiles just shivered and smiled, nodding his head yes. "Yeah. I trust you, Derek. You make me feel safe." With that, Stiles burrowed his face into Derek's warm chest.

Derek smiled over the top of Stiles' head, hugging the smaller body closer to his own. "I'm glad you feel that way, Stiles. I hope you always feel safe around me."

There were a few moments of comfortable silence before Stiles spoke up once again.

"My back doesn't hurt anymore."

Derek gives a small shrug. "I've heard having an orgasm can reduce period pains for girls. Maybe it took away your pain too."

"I hope so," Stiles mumbles. "How long do I have to wait until my, you know, _stuff_ comes?"

"I'm not actually sure," Derek replied. "If the pain in your back is really severe, then your slick _should_ come today."

"It is," Stiles blurted. "Well, it _was_ until... until I came."

Derek could practically _feel_ Stiles' blush where it was pressed up against his chest.

"Good. That's a good thing. Then all we need to do is wait for a while. You'll know when it comes out because, well, for one, you'll _feel_ it dripping out. And for two, the pressure in your back will basically disappear. Almost like a balloon being popped and all of the air is releasing from it."

"Well, I hope it waits until after I take a nap."

Derek chuckled, pressing a lingering kiss to the messy, sex hair. "Take your nap, little one. I'll take care of you."

It didn't take long for either of them to doze off. They both took quite the long nap, but woke up refreshed and sated. Stiles did mention his back was hurting again when Derek asked him, but he refused when the alpha tried taking his pain. Not wanting to push the issue, Derek got dressed into sweats and a t-shirt. Stiles followed suit, also putting on sweats, but exchanging the t-shirt for one of Derek's red, long-sleeved shirts. He looked a bit sheepish pulling it on, like he was afraid Derek would get mad at him for wearing it when he had his own clothes now. Derek just reassured his fears by helping the omega get his arms into the sleeves. The saccharine smell of happiness wafting off Stiles was _so_ worth it.

Derek then made them a late lunch, consisting of mac n' cheese with little hot dog slices. He also made a side dish of fresh, frozen peas, which he obviously warmed up, so Stiles could have a little something healthy in his meal. After they scarfed the food down, they settled down onto the couch and watched tv for a few hours, Stiles enamored by an episode of Drake and Josh as Derek basked in the pleasure of running his fingers through Stiles' hair, which still smelled heavily of their coupling earlier.

Around 4 in the afternoon was when Stiles really started squirming from the pain in his back. Derek had been expecting this, though. That's why there was a hot compress, 3 large towels and a fresh pair of boxers and sweatpants for Stiles sitting beside them on the couch. Derek had done some research on his phone while they had eaten lunch, wanting to be perfectly prepared for the exact moment when Stiles' body started producing it's own lubricant. Good thing he had, too, otherwise his sweatpants would have been completely soaked.

When Stiles first started whimpering because of the pain, Derek had situated him sideways on his lap so that he could use the palm of his hand to create a downward pressure on Stiles' lower back. It was a technique some massage therapists used to get the knots and kinks out from people's lower backs. It was supposed to work the same for omegas who were about to produce natural lubricant for the first time, except it supposedly had an added bonus of coaxing the muscles to work faster and release the fluids quicker.

Honestly, Derek was a bit skeptical about the technique working, but his suspicions were put to rest when Stiles told him that the insides of his anal walls were aching. Then Derek _knew_ it was working because the website he had looked under had said that that was the final symptom. After that, Derek had carefully helped Stiles pull his sweatpants and boxers off, pleased to see that both were still dry. He had then carefully situated one of the fluffy, black towels over his lap, helping Stiles straddle him in a completely non-sexual way.

The omega had sighed before wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and resting against his chest, bare from only the waist down as his legs were spread obscenely over Derek's towel-covered crotch. Derek wrapped one arm around the slim waist and held the hot compress to Stiles' lower back with his free hand, easily holding up his weight as Stiles made himself comfortable. After that, it hadn't taken long at all. They had both just relaxed in a comfortable silence for a while, exchanging words here and there, until the moment when Stiles had whined in pain and buried his face in Derek's neck. Stiles' muscles had all gone tense for a couple moments before relaxing again, and that's when the smell hit Derek.

It was a nice, sweet smell. Not _too_ sweet like a bite of a sugary donut would give you, but a _soft_ sweet like a juicy strawberry. That's what Stiles' slick smelled like; the juiciest, most mouth-watering fruit imaginable. Derek wanted a taste _so bad_ , wanted to just use his large hands to spread Stiles' thighs wide and bury his face into the heart of the scent, but it wasn't the time for that. He would show Stiles the pleasure of rimming some other day.

The webpage online had told Derek that a lot would come out at once, almost like a water-balloon was popped with a pin and all that water was spilling out. And, _fuck_ , they hadn't been lying. One moment the towel on Derek's lap had been completely dry, and before Derek could blink it was _soaked._ The consistency wasn't that of water, however. Stiles' lubrication was a bit thicker and, obviously, more slick. As Derek had rubbed some between his thumb and pointer finger, he was pleased to realize the feel of it was even better than the lube he kept in his bottom drawer in the bedroom.

Derek used all 3 towels wiping Stiles clean, being sure to run one of the fluffy cloths gently between Stiles' cheeks and over his tender hole. He had then helped Stiles back into the fresh boxers and sweatpants when he knew the slick would stop coming for the time being. Despite the fact that Stiles had just sat there and let his body work it's magic, it had really been a drain on his energy, so Derek happily carried him back to bed and allowed him to doze, sidling up along his back and spooning him.

As Derek lay there listening to the sound of his mates breathing, he flared his nostrils as he inhaled, his wolf wanting to leap around like a puppy in love at the new smell that Stiles had now acquired. The mouth-watering, juicy scent would follow Stiles around for he rest of his life, not that Derek was complaining. And Derek _definitely_ wasn't complaining that he had actually got to witness Stiles producing his first natural lubrication. That was something that usually happened _years_ before an omega met their mate. Derek was just glad that he got to see it happen with his own eyes, in his own arms. It was a special moment between them, something that they could silently bond over time and time again. It was said to be one of the top moments when omegas felt their most vulnerable and exposed, and Derek was happy beyond words that Stiles had allowed Derek to help him through it. It showed that Stiles really did trust him, and that made Derek's wolf preen at the job well done.

Derek fell asleep with his nose buried in Stiles' messy hair, his arms wrapped protectively around his waist, and a smile on his lips.

**XOXOXOXO**

"Derek Hale, I presume?"

Derek calmly stepped out of his car and shut the door, turning to smile at the bubbly blonde woman in front of him. He stuck his hand out and shook hers, feeling a little intimidated by the shark-like grin she flashed him behind her bright red lipstick. Her firm handshake, perfect curls, sharp dress and _giant_ high heels showed that she obviously oozed confidence.

"Erica Reyes," she replied smoothly.

Derek flashed her an uneasy smile. "Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

She flashed him another scary grin. "Any potential client of mine is worth my time. So, what made you interested in this house? It's been on the market for a few years now."

"My home is starting to feel a bit cramped as of lately. I figured now was as good a time as ever to find something with a little more room."

Erica tapped her chin with a perfectly manicured nail and eyed his visible claiming bite. "Ah. Have you got some little cubs on the way? This house would make the perfect family home."

Derek chuckled. "Something like that."

Erica grinned again. "Excellent. If you'll just follow me..."

Derek followed her across the street, eyeing her high-heels suspiciously. She was just walking along as easily as if she were wearing jogging shoes. Derek didn't understand how girls could do it, but he had to give them a lot of credit for being so adventurous.

"Now, this house was only built twenty years ago, so it's quite new compared to the other houses on this block. The man who put it up for sale was actually the one who created it. Well, _designed it_ , I should say. He had professionals build it to suite his wishes. Now, the inside..."

Derek completely tuned out Erica's chatter, his attention focused on the house in front of him, instead. Derek wasn't sure what he had expected Stiles' old house to look like. Perhaps a cozy little cottage type home with rose bushes in the front yard, complete with a white picket fence. Needless to say, Derek was shocked that the house was so, well, _huge._

There was a black-tar driveway leading up to an immaculate looking two-car garage. The garage was attached to the house, which was made of pretty gray and white stone. There was a small path of smaller stones that lead from the side of the driveway up to the front door, which looked to be made of brown oak with a large stained glass window smack dab in the center.

"How many stories did you say this house was?" Derek asked, eyeing the height of the house in awe.

"Three," replied Erica, popping a piece of gum in her mouth. "Six bedrooms, four bathrooms. Large kitchen, equally as large dining room, a small office room, decent sized living room. There's also a lovely stone fireplace inside." She finished her sentence off with a loud snap of her gum.

Derek let out a low whistle, glancing around at the other houses in the area. The neighborhood was very nice. Beautiful, quiet, hardly any traffic going up and down the road. It was a perfect place to build a family. Or the perfect place to move to _without_ children. Too bad Derek wasn't actually here to buy it. He was here to look around, to try and find _any_ sort of clue that he could about Jonathan Stilinski.

"Three stories including the basement?" Derek asked.

"Oh, there's no basement in this house. Just the main, second and third levels."

Derek nearly stopped in his tracks at her answer, but managed to somehow keep walking forward. He felt a little dizzy and a _whole lot_ confused. The article had said that Jonathan had buried _someones_ remains in the basement of his home, which had been uncovered by the police. Well, that was now laughable considering there _was_ no fucking basement to bury a body in. Though, what had he really been expecting? The entire article had been one big fat lie. He should have expected this to be one as well.

"Now, shall we see the inside?" Erica asked, shooting him a cat-like grin as she fiddled with a ring of keys. Derek nodded his head yes, but sort of failed to see the point after having learned what he just did. The only clue he could have had to go off of was just completely ripped out from underneath him. Not that that was a bad thing, per se. It just proved all the more that Jonathan Stilinski was exactly what everyone else had been saying: a good man.

Derek eyed the large, red rose bushes he walked by, feeling a bit smug about getting at least _one_ of the details correct. The sound of the front door opening made Derek look forward once more, nearly smacking his face into the back of Erica's head. Luckily, he only breathed in a lungful of sickly sweet shampoo.

"All right," Erica hummed, her heels clacking against the nice hardwood floors. "As you can see, the door opens right up to the living room. The kitchen and dining room are right through those arches. There's also a lovely back patio off of the dining room."

Derek's breath caught in his throat as he entered the threshold. The inside was a combination of slick, hardwood floors and nice creme colored walls with intricate crown moulding. There was a spiral staircase that wound it's way to the second floor which connected to a matching railing. It was obvious that you would be able to look down to the first floor from the upper one, which was really impressive.

As the two of them shuffled from room to room, Derek couldn't resist the urge to deeply sniff the air. He didn't know what he was expecting. Perhaps the lingering smell of Stiles from years ago, or a whiff of the last meal that was cooked on the stove, or even the lingering smell of deep sadness from a man who had lost his only son. But Derek could only smell the dust from lack of cleaning and the wilting daisies sitting in a vase on the counter. For reasons unknown to him, it made him immensely sad.

That sadness only kicked up ten more notches as Erica showed him the second and third floors. One of the bedrooms on the second floor was smaller than the others, small enough for a small child. And going by the tiny dinosaurs painted on the sea-green walls, Derek knew for a fact it had been Stiles' room.

Little pencil scratches on the inside of Stiles' old door frame caught Derek's attention. Tuning out Erica's incessant rambling, he knelt down next to them and gently ran his fingertip's over the marks. A small smile tugged at his mouth as he realized they probably tracked Stiles' growth through his childhood. Or, more accurately, what childhood Stiles had _actually_ been able to live.

The smile fading from his face, he stood once more, the sadness hitting him full force and making his wolf want to curl in a ball and whine. He couldn't help but picture Stiles as a little boy, playing with his toys and laughing in his room. He pictured Stiles as a baby, crawling all over the kitchen floor downstairs and babbling to himself. He pictured Stiles playing tag in the backyard with his dad, squealing with laughter as his dad chased him around. He also pictured a newly born Stiles down in the living room, being cradled and cooed over by both his mother and father.

The mental images made Derek's throat tight, a familiar pinch behind his eyes signaling that tears were on the way. It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that all of Stiles' good memories were locked away in this house, and the house was available just for anybody to sweep off the market.

Derek bit his lip hard and cleared his throat, willing the tears to stay at bay. It worked, but it caught Erica's attention.

She rose an eyebrow and snapped her gum. "Are you all right, Mr. Hale?"

Derek nodded, not quite sure if he managed to rid his eyes of sadness. "I... uh, yeah. I was just thinking about how someone special to me would react to this house."

Erica grinned once more. "I'm sure they'd love it. Just think of all the memories someone could make in this beauty."

_Or the memories he could remember_ , Derek thought, shoving his hands in his pocket and sighing sadly.

"So, any questions?" Erica asked, checking the gold watch on her slim wrist. "Anything you'd like to see again? Need me to repeat anything?"

Derek took one last slow look around Stiles' room and shook his head no. "I think we're good here."

"Great!" Erica lead the two of them back downstairs and out the door, being sure to lock it behind her. She fished a card out of her bra, much to Derek's surprise, and thrust it at him. "I figured you already had my card since you contacted me, but here's another just in case. Don't be afraid to call with any questions!"

Derek smiled politely at her and shook hands once more. "Thank you. I'll keep this house in mind."

Erica cocked her head a little and squinted, twirling one of her blonde curls around her manicured finger. "I hope so. There's just something about you that seems... well, like you're almost _connected_ to the home already." She just shrugged and flounced away to her own vehicle.

Derek chuckled under his breath. "You have no idea."

He quickly got back into his car and buckled up, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. His eyes flickered over to the charming little house, disappointment curdling inside his body like sour milk. Once again, it was a dead end to the Jonathan Stilinski case. Though, once again, he wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting to find. However, on the other hand, he had been allowed to get a glimpse into Stiles' past. That thought alone had made the small trip worth it.

Derek looked down at the small card in his hand, taking in Erica's smiling face and her contact information. His eyes flickered back and forth between her card and the house for a few seconds, the wheels spinning in his mind. Then, he slid the card into his shirt pocket, turned on the car, and started the drive towards home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was sort of just a filler chapter, but I think this chapter was quite necessary for the progress of their relationship.   
> Come talk to me on Tumblr: http://hero-complex-girl.tumblr.com/


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments, kudos and bookmarks! You guys are all super awesome! Also, you guys who follow me on Tumblr are amazing! I now have 30+ followers thanks to ya'll! *hugs everyone real tight*
> 
> Hurray, Laura's back!

The next week flew by in a haze of pure chaos.

Derek's workload increased tenfold, Lydia making him deal with tons of paperwork as well as running all over the place to interview this, that and the other person. And when he was done with work, he had to quickly run home and take Stiles to all kinds of different appointments throughout the entire week. Since Stiles had been making a beautiful recovery, Derek had decided it was a good time to make him a few serious appointments. Alas, Stiles had made a trip to the Dentist, the Doctor, and even an Eye Specialist in just a few days. Yes, he had smelt apprehension and nervousness like a thick cloud around the omega at the thought of leaving the house, but Derek had gently coaxed him into it, making sure that Stiles understood that Derek wouldn't let anything bad happen to him and that he would be with Stiles at all times. There had definitely still been some reluctance on Stiles' part when they finally _did_ leave the house, but Stiles was slowly making progress, and that was all that really mattered. It's not like Derek would have forced him to go if he really didn't want to, but the appointments were something that _needed_ to happen at some point. It was better to get them over with sooner rather than later. So that said, Derek called each clinic ahead of time and explained his situation. Everybody was rather sympathetic to hear about Stiles' situation, so they all agreed to try and have as little people in the waiting areas as possible. So with much relief, Derek took Stiles to his appointments.

The first was the Dentist. Much to Derek's surprise, Stiles had actually _enjoyed_ the Dentist. The grandmotherly woman who had worked on his teeth said he had one of the best smiles she had ever seen, which Derek fully agreed with. There turned out to be no cavities, and he was given a clean (tooth) bill of health. Derek had left the building with a smiling, minty-fresh mate. Though, the smile may or may not have been for the giant sucker the dentist gave him after he was done, but it had gone well overall.

The Doctors, on the other hand, was a whole other story. Stiles was still weary of them due to Deaton's last visit. It was obvious, if his trembling was anything to go by, that he was afraid one of the doctors would need to give him a bunch of shots. Unfortunately, he _did_ need a Tetanus shot because he was a few years overdue. To say Stiles had been scared would have been an understatement. He had been downright _terrified._ His heart sounded like it was going to beat right out of his little chest, and he clung tightly to Derek as he cried and sniffled into the alphas shirt. Derek had felt so bad, wanting nothing more than to snatch Stiles up and carry him out, but he knew going without a Tetanus shot could be deadly to humans, so he forced himself to sit there, even when Stiles begged him to go home in his little voice.

The Doctor understood, thankfully. So he allowed Stiles to sit on Derek's lap as the shot was injected to try and reduce as much stress as possible, which honestly wasn't that much. Derek just held him firmly, allowing Stiles to bury his tear-streaked face into Derek's neck and cling to him with his free hand, sharp nails digging into the meat of Derek's shoulder. Derek just sat there and tried to soothe him with gentle words, but it didn't make much of a difference. He was just glad when that bit was done, but then Stiles still needed to be physically looked over. It made Derek a little angry, thinking they should have done the physical stuff first so Stiles wouldn't have been so wound up, but he let it go in exchange for calming his mate.

The Doctor had apologized multiple times for upsetting Stiles, and Derek knew he was just trying to be nice and do his job, but that didn't stop him from flashing his red eyes at the man and letting out a low, threatening growl. The Doctor had just paled slightly before telling Derek he'd give them twenty minutes to recuperate before he came back. Derek would have laughed at the scared expression on his face if he hadn't been so wrapped up in his distressed mate. Eventually, after some gentle rocking, light kisses and words of comfort, Stiles had managed to calm down and sagged tiredly against Derek's chest.

True to his word, the Doctor came back in exactly twenty minutes, looking towards Derek nervously before he entered the room and started to examine Stiles. Stiles definitely wasn't into it, but he got through it with Derek holding his hand. After the examination was complete, the Doctor expressed how good Stiles' vitals looked, but he also was concerned about Stiles' weight. He said the omega needed to gain at least fifteen more pounds before he would be considered a healthy weight. Derek had already known Stiles still needed more meat on his bones, but he promised the Doctor he would work on it. The last thing they did before leaving was set up a birth control subscription for Stiles. Derek knew they weren't going to be having full-on intercourse for quite a while, but Derek wanted to be prepared for anything. Where Deaton had wanted to give Stiles a birth control injection, this Doctor prescribed him weekly pills to take. To say Stiles was thrilled at the thought of not having yet _another_ shot would have been an understatement. After that, they were free to go. Stiles practically _dragged_ Derek out of there, but Derek understood. The moment they got back to the safety of Derek's camero, Stiles scrambled inside, buckled his seat belt, and promptly fell asleep, completely exhausted from the trip.

Last but not least, the Eye Specialist had been more of a spur of the moment stop. Derek had spotted it when he and Stiles were driving back from the Doctor. He had called and made an appointment once they got home, wanting to be sure Stiles got nothing but the best care. And it was a good thing he had. Turns out Stiles' eyesight wasn't actually the best. He could see fairly well up close, but not far away. So they had left the eye clinic with 2 new pairs of glasses and a case of contacts, just in case Stiles got tired of wearing the glasses. Derek, on the other hand, would _not_ got tired of seeing the omega wear them. Both pairs were black-framed and thick, and when sitting perched on the adorably upturned nose, Derek got hard as a _rock_.

Stiles had also been spending more time with Jackson lately. Not because Laura was too busy or anything, but because Derek had found out that Stiles really couldn't read all that well. Which was understandable, given the circumstances Stiles had been forced into at such a tender age. It's not like the Argent's would have had school books sitting around for the better good of the younger omegas.

Derek hadn't been certain what to do about the situation. Obviously getting better was Stiles' _main_ priority, but when Derek asked him if he wanted to learn to read, Stiles said yes. Thankfully for Derek, Jackson had spent a few years volunteering at schools and helping children with learning disabilities. He gladly offered his help, so Derek and Stiles accepted. Thus, arms loaded with different reading level books, Jackson showed up at Derek's door every morning before the alpha left for work. Laura wasn't too happy about the other omega stealing her "Stiles time," as she called it, but Derek told her that she could come over and see Stiles the next weekend. He even promised to make a fancy dinner just for her. Laura, obviously, couldn't argue with that.

So that's what Derek currently found himself doing: cooking. He had been a bit worried about what to make, wanting to please Laura with his choice of food, but she had told him earlier on the phone that grilled hamburgers would be just fine. Thus, hamburgers were being made. He had also whipped up a batch of old-style potato salad earlier that was now sitting in the fridge, waiting to be eaten.

Derek was standing out on his small patio, carefully flipping the burgers on the grill to make sure they'd be just perfect. The juicy scent that wafted off of them made his mouth water. He couldn't wait to slap a piece of cheese on one and smother it with raw onions and--

Derek cringed as he heard Laura's high-pitched laugh come from inside his living room, the softer tone of Stiles' giggles accompanying them. He knew she was telling Stiles all sorts of embarrassing baby stories. He just _knew._ Inviting her over had _definitely_ been a bad idea.

He cast his annoyance towards the innocent hamburgers, glaring down at them as he pressed them harder into the grill. It made him feel a little better picturing Laura's face in their place. Mom had lied to him when she told him having a sister would be fun.

After a few more agonizing moments, the burgers were _finally_ done. He set them delicately onto a plate and added cheese to a few of them, a satisfied smile crossing his lips as he surveyed his hard work. Whistling to himself, he walked back into the house, shutting the sliding-glass door behind him.

"--nothing to be ashamed of," Laura was saying. "Hell, whenever someone would even _mention_ the word 'doctor,' Derek would start to bawl like a baby."

"Laura!" Derek hissed, cheeks heating up as he set the plate down on the counter.

"What?" Laura asked, blinking her large eyes at him in fake innocence.

Derek just sighed, knowing it would be pointless to argue with her. She always won anyways. "Just come and grab some food."

She grinned devilishly as she hopped up from the couch, grabbing Stiles' hand and pulling him with her. Derek was just glad to see that Stiles didn't mind being touched by her. In fact, he looked quite happy trailing after her.

Derek shook the thoughts from his mind as he gathered the potato salad, ketchup and mustard from the fridge. He deposited them on the counter before reaching for the buns, setting out enough for each burger to go on.

"What do you want to drink, baby?" Derek asked.

"Juice," Stiles responded, sitting on the bar-stool in front of the counter.

"Juice it is. Laura?"

"Mm, just water, thanks," was her response, licking her lips hungrily as she eyed the potato salad.

That said, Derek pulled out two bottled waters and a pitcher of grape juice from the fridge. He made sure they both had everything they needed before he started to make up his own plate. After slathering his hamburger in ketchup, Derek promptly took the open seat next to Stiles, giving him a soft smile as he sat down.

"So, Derek," Laura spoke, mouth full of chewed up food, making Derek wrinkle his nose in disgust. "How's work been?"

Derek politely swallowed his food before responding. "Same ole', same ole'. Busy as fuck. Lot's of paperwork, tons of important assholes that I'm forced to talk with, the usual."

Laura snorted. "Charming. And to think dad wanted _me_ to go into that business."

"Psh, you wouldn't' last a day," Derek grumbled, taking a drink of cold water. "Not with _that_ mouth on you."

Laura gave him a shark-like grin. "Oh, but I'd fit in _so perfectly_ with these 'assholes' you speak of."

Derek just rolled his eyes, but he couldn't fight off the grin that spread across his mouth.

"You two are as bad as children," Stiles murmured, biting into his hamburger daintily.

Laura blinked at him in surprise, not expecting the sarcasm, but after a moment she threw her head back and laughed, making Stiles smirk.

Derek rubbed his face with his hands. "What am I gonna to do with you two?"

By the time their bickering came to an end, they were done eating. Derek quickly cleared the dishes from the counter and put them into the dishwasher while Laura went onto the patio and scrubbed the grill clean. Stiles helped by taking a wet rag and wiping down the counter until it was no longer sticky and crumby.

Once those mundane tasks were done, the three of them settled down on the couch together for a relaxing evening. Derek was at one end of the couch, Stiles sitting sideways in his lap and his head snuggled into the crook of Derek's neck. Laura was at the other end, her legs stretched comfortably along the cushions, toenails pressing into Derek's jean-clad thigh.

"We're watching what I choose because _I've_ got the remote!" Laura said, holding the remote up in triumph.

Derek let out a loud groan, knowing she was going to pick out some stupid chick flick. To say he was surprised when the Spongebob theme song rang in his ears was quite the understatement. He looked curiously over at Laura, but she wasn't paying attention to him. She was watching Stiles, a soft look on her face as the omega blinked his large eyes at the screen, completely absorbed. When Laura's eyes finally flickered over to him, the only thing he could do was give her a small smile of thanks before hunkering down and enjoying the show.

They must have watched at _least_ six episodes before Derek heard the slow, even breathing of his mate, accompanied by his head lolling against Derek's chest. He was out cold. Derek smiled down at the top of his head, softly kissing it, the faint scent of shampoo wafting up Derek's nostrils. He just took a few moments to look at him, his eyes watching the steady rise and fall of Stiles' chest. Stiles was at too much of an angle for Derek to see his face, but he knew his little, red mouth was hanging open. He could feel the warm puffs of air leaking through the front of his shirt.

"Are you just gonna stare at him like a creep, or are you gonna put him in bed?" Laura asked, startling Derek. He had forgotten she was even sitting there.

Derek sent her a half-hearted glare, but gracefully rose up from the couch, holding Stiles against his chest like a bride. "I'll just be one second, " he murmured, carrying Stiles towards the bedroom. He took a moment to be grateful that Stiles was wearing some comfy sweatpants and one of Derek's sweaters. The last thing Derek wanted to do was wake him up to change clothes.

He somehow managed to pull the crisp blankets down with his fingertips, gently laying Stiles in the middle of the bed before pulling the covers up. Stiles' eyelids fluttered slightly, stirring at the change from hard chest to soft bed. Blearily he blinked his eyes open, squinting up at Derek.

"Shh, go back to sleep," Derek cooed, stroking a cheekbone with his thumb. "I'm just gonna talk with Laura for a little bit longer. Then I'll come back and join you. Sound like a deal?"

"Mm, kay," Stiles sighed, already being pulled back into dreamland.

Derek just chuckled, placing a light kiss on Stiles' forehead. "Sleep tight, my sweet prince."

Derek slipped the glasses off Stiles nose and placed them on the dresser before he walked across the room and out the door, shutting it gently behind him. Laura patted the empty cushion beside her, inviting him to sit.

"Have a seat, big bro," she said, grinning at him.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Oh, how _kind_ of you to invite me to sit on my _own_ couch."

Laura kicked his shin hard, causing him to hiss in pain.

"So," she continued, not bothering to apologize. "We haven't had any brother and sister time in a while. What have you been up to?"

"You see me almost every day," Derek pointed out.

It was Laura's turn to roll her eyes. "Yeah, but that's for like two seconds in the morning, and then when you get home from work I have to leave to start my shift. C'mon! There's gotta be something good to gossip about! Don't you want to spend time with your sister?"

Derek sighed an folded his arms, nodding his head yes.

"See! There's gotta be _something_ you want to talk about! You've been all tense and stressed lately."

"Yes, Laura. It's called having a stressful job."

Laura flapped her hand in the air, waving the excuse away. "No, I know what you're like when you're stressed over work. This... this is _different_ somehow. Like someone's personally offended you or something. Is it about Stiles?"

Derek's heart ticked a bit faster, earning a satisfied noise from Laura.

"Thought so," she said smugly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "So, what's up? C'mon, throw some information at me."

Derek sighed and rubbed his temples. "It's nothing, really."

Laura harrumphed, frowning as she tapped her chin with a perfectly manicured nail. "All right. You want to play it _that_ way, then we will. How about a secret for a secret?"

"Well, it's not really a secret--"

" _Okay_ ," Laura interrupted. "How about gossip for gossip then?"

Derek smirked. "All right. A little work gossip. I can't _wait_ to hear what kind of gossip someone has who works at a fucking pet shelter."

Laura kicked him hard in the shin again before grinning in triumph. "Well, it just so happens that I _do_ have some gossip." She leaned in towards him as if she was afraid somebody would overhear. "Just the other day, I learned that Max got Crystal pregnant. They're not even dating!"

Derek blinked at her for a moment before shaking his head in disappointment. "Max and Crystal are cats, aren't they?"

Laura shrugged. "Well, you never said it had to be gossip about _people._ "

"What other kind of gossip is there?!" Derek exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Never you mind," Laura said, swatting at his bicep. "Your turn. Boy, this is gonna be good."

Derek sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He didn't even know where to begin. So, naturally, everything just came spilling out. He told her about looking up Stiles' father online and about the results he found. He told her about getting Danny's help and how he had informed him the website was (thankfully) fake. He told her about going to the police station and informing Stilinski's old friends about what he had found, and _boy_ had they been pissed. And lastly, he told her about going to Stiles' house to "look" at it.

"You _did_?" Laura asked, eyes as big as saucers. "Did you find anything?"

"No," Derek sighed. "I couldn't catch any kind of scent. It was too long ago."

"Well, _fuck_ ," Laura said weakly. "Did you ask the realtor if she knew where he moved to?"

"That's the one thing I forgot to ask," Derek grumbled. He had felt so stupid afterwards. "But she _did_ give me her contact information, so I called her back."

"And what'd she say?"

"Well, she said she had no clue where he moved to. Said she hardly remembered him since it was so long ago and she's worked with so many people since then. But here's the part that I _don't_ understand. Stilinski was the owner of the house, right? Well, apparently after he put it up for sale, the house was handed over to the bank not too long afterwards."

Laura let out a low whistle. "That's strange. So, you won't even be able to interrogate whoever buys the house? What crumby luck."

"Well," Derek began, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I wouldn't have gotten much information from the buyer anyways."

"Why's that?" Laura questioned, brow furrowed.

"Because _I_ bought it," Derek blurted out.

Laura let out a squeal and slapped his arm in surprise. "No way!"

Derek sighed. "Yes way. Paid in full."

Laura blinked for a moment before grinning. "You're such a sap. You _looove_ Stiles!"

"Shut up," he grumbled.

"That's probably the most romantic thing I've ever heard of," Laura gushed, hearts in her eyes. "He's gonna jump your bones right on the spot!"

"Laura," Derek groaned. "Stop talking about my sex life. It's weird. Besides, I may have just made a huge mistake buying it. Who knows if he'll be happy seeing his old house? It might bring back horrible memories."

"True," Laura murmured."I guess there's only one way to find out. When are you gonna tell him?"

"Not tell him. _Show_ him. I planned on bringing him there as a surprise for his birthday."

"Christ," Laura muttered, side-eyeing Derek. "That's an expensive birthday present."

Derek sighed impatiently. "I can afford it ten times over. I just wanted to get him something nice since he's gone through so much horrible stuff in his life. I just don't know if _that's_ the way to go."

"Well, let me tell _you_ ," Laura exclaimed, resting her arms on the back of the couch in a sign of nonchalance. "The first man who buys _me_ a house is going to get the best blow job of his _life_."

"Jesus!" Derek covered his ears with his palms, glaring at Laura's cackling face.

"I joke, I joke. But, seriously. There's only one way to find out."

"Yeah," Derek sighed. "I know. Thanks for listening. It feels good to have gotten this off of my chest."

"Any time, little bro." She playfully punched Derek in the arm before rising to her feet, walking over to the door and retrieving her heels. "Unfortunately, I've gotta go. There's a marathon of Supernatural starting in an hour."

Derek just chuckled before giving her a big hug. "Drive safe. No texting."

Laura slipped on her jacket before giving him a mock-salute. "Aye-ay, sir. Sleep tight."

"I will," responded Derek, closing the door after her.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek was just barely drifting off to sleep when he heard it; a low, whining sound.

He lifted his head up in confusion, not wanting to move too much since he was toasty warm curled around Stiles' frame. He blinked blearily around the room, but saw nothing. He just shrugged and buried his face back into the nape of Stiles' neck, giving the skin a soft lick. He sighed blissfully as the fog of sleep started to shroud him once more.

But then he heard it _again_ , and this time he realized it was coming from Stiles.

Derek propped himself up on an elbow and studied his mates face. It looked a little tight, like Stiles was trying to scrunch his face up. When Derek tuned in better, he heard the jack-rabbeting of Stiles' heartbeat. He must have been having a bad dream.

"Stiles," Derek whispered, brushing a lock of hair away from Stiles' eyes.

Stiles whined again and his head rolled to the side. "Daddy," he whined, lower lip trembling.

Red flags went up in Derek's mind, prompting him to gently shake the omega from his sleep. Stiles inhaled sharply as he jerked awake, eyes frantically looking around the room until his gaze landed on Derek.

"Hey, you," Derek said, voice low and throaty. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Stiles just blinked tiredly at him a few times before nodding his head yes.

Derek smiled sadly at him. "You're ok, baby."

Stiles nodded, scooting closer to the alphas warmth. He buried his face in the crook of Derek's neck, and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

Derek just sighed as he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, holding him close to his chest. This was only the second dream that Stiles had had about his father, but it really made Derek think. Though he was a bit hesitant to tell Stiles everything he knew so far about his father, he knew it would be the right thing to do. It was _Stiles'_ father, after all. He deserved to know what was going on.

As he looked down at Stiles' innocent, sleeping face he decided _soon._ He would tell him soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the slight lack of Sterek scenes in this chapter. We'll get back on track next chapter!
> 
> Come chat with me on Tumblr!: http://hero-complex-girl.tumblr.com/


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been forever since I updated this. I apologize. School, work and life in general has been incredibly hectic and I don't have much spare time anymore. However, that being said, I will NEVER abandon this fic. It might take me a while to complete it since there is still a lot of this story to be told, but I will never leave a story abandoned. Also, I have started to write a few other sterek fics. They aren't posted or anything because I want to be finished (or nearly finished) with them before posting, so keep a look out for those in the future. One last thing: since I don't have much time on my hands, chapters may be a lot shorter than what they have previously been.
> 
> Lastly, smut. That is all.

Derek found himself sitting in the break room on Wednesday, heating up a square of lasagna in the microwave that he had brought from home. His mouth flooded with saliva at the smell of bubbling cheese wafting throughout the room. He heard the faint clacking of high heels on the linoleum floor, alerting him to Lydia's presence a full 20 seconds before she appeared in the doorway.

Her red hair was done up in a professional bun, her usual work uniform traded in for a black pencil skirt and a white button-up top. She gave Derek a head nod as she entered the room, walking swiftly over to the coffee machine.

"I have a new assignment for you, Hale."

Derek resisted the urge to groan. This would be the sixth "new assignment" she'd given him since Monday.

The microwave beeped loudly, prompting Derek to scoop the plate of lasagna out and onto the small table. "Details?"

The coffee pot started crackling as it began spewing new coffee. Lydia took the time to sit down across from Derek and give him her critical eye, the one that left Derek feeling like a small, vulnerable child. Derek loathed that look.

"It was reported that Chris Argent returned to Beacon Hills yesterday. We've been keeping an eye on his house for the past twenty-four hours, and we'll continue to do so until someone interrogates him."

"You want me to interrogate him?" Derek asked, shoveling a warm forkful of food into his mouth.

"Obviously," Lydia drawled, rolling her eyes. "You're my best worker. You get straight to the point and don't fuck around. You're the only one I trust with this case being the entire 'Argent debacle' is the biggest thing to have happened in years."

Derek pushed his food around with his fork for a moment before giving a light sigh. "All right. I'll do it."

"Great," Lydia smirked. "I'll have the file on your desk in the next hour." She got up to grab a mug from the cupboard, but she continued speaking. "The basic information you need to know is that Chris Argent has been away on 'vacation' for the past few months. Everybody is obviously suspicious about him being a part of what went on with Gerard and Kate, so that's what we need to find out. If he was, then he goes to jail. End of story. If not, well, I highly doubt he's innocent, but if he is, then we let it go."

"Right, gotcha," Derek mumbled, scraping the last of the lasagna onto his fork. "I'll handle it."

"I never thought you couldn't," Lydia replied, a hint of smugness in her voice. She poured herself some coffee and rejoined Derek at the table. "So, got any plans with your sweetie tonight?"

Derek fought off the smile that threatened to break out on his face. He couldn't help it. The thought of Stiles gave him a severe case of tummy butterflies. "Yes, actually. We're going to have dinner with our neighbors. He's still very wary around most people, but he really likes Jackson and Danny."

Lydia arched a fine eyebrow at him before squinting her eyes. "Jackson and Danny? As in, Whittemore and Mahealani?"

"Yes," Derek said, surprised. "You know them?"

"Actually, I dated Jackson for about two months in high school."

"Really?"

"Yup." Lydia took a moment to sip at her coffee. "That is, until we figured out he was gay."

Derek snorted. "Oh, he's gay all right."

Lydia hummed in agreement, adding, "So then he was basically my sassy gay friend. I was actually the one who got him and Danny together. It was a blind date. Danny was a friend of my family, older than us high school kids. Next thing I knew, their blind date turned into a serious thing when Jackson recognized Danny as his alpha. Christ, they practically fucked right there on the floor of the restaurant."

Derek had been sipping on milk as she was talking, but it practically came out of his nose at her graphic description. Not that he was against sex, but he didn't want to imagine his neighbors grinding against each other with no clothes on. Though, Jackson had to have become pregnant somehow...

"Then I was invited to their wedding," Lydia continued. "Of course, I had planned the entire damn thing, so it would have been rude of them not to. Then over the years we just kind of lost touch. Are they still all lovey dovey like they used to be?"

Derek chuckled. "And then some. Jackson's actually pregnant. I guarantee his hormones are going crazy."

Lydia gave him a 100% genuine smile, shocking Derek a little.

"That's great," she squealed, her face going serious once more. "That bastard better name it after me if it's a girl. He promised me he would a long time ago."

Derek just sat there and laughed, seeing the smile Lydia was trying to keep off her lips. She failed miserably.

**XOXOXOXO**

"You want a beer?" Danny asked, standing in front of his open fridge.

"Hell yes," Derek responded, setting a bowl of homemade mashed potatoes onto the counter. It was his moms recipe, and it was to die for. Danny was barbecuing chicken, so Derek had brought over the dish as a side.

"Rough day at work?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow as he grabbed a bottle of beer and tossed it to Derek.

Derek cracked it open and took a long swig, wiping his mouth before saying, "You could say that."

Danny just grinned and cracked open his own. There were a few beats of comfortable silence between them before Danny spoke up. "So, did you get any further with trying to find Stiles' dad?"

Derek sighed and shook his head no. "Afraid not. I'm at a dead end. But thanks for all the help. You don't even know how much that information put some of my mind at ease."

"Anytime," Danny grinned, looking towards the hallway when the sound of laughter came from one of the bedrooms.

Derek chuckled. "They're giggling over baby magazines."

"Of course," Danny replied. "I swear, Jackson has bought every single baby magazine within a ten mile radius."

"Don't lie. You love it," Derek teased.

Danny held up his hands in surrender, grinning. "I confess. It's just... Jackson is usually so serious and uptight. It's just a nice change to see him be a little... softer."

"He'll make a great dad," Derek replied, taking the lid off the steaming mashed potatoes. "And so will you."

"God, I hope so," Danny mumbled, grabbing a spatula to go and flip the chicken with. "At first when we found out he was pregnant, I was honestly terrified. The thought of taking care of another little, living person made me panic. I mean, I hardly remember where I put my damn phone every day. How the hell am I supposed to keep track of a baby?" Then, Danny's eyes grew warmer, a soft smile slipping onto his lips. "But then I thought about how we made it. I thought about how it's a little part of me and Jackson, all wrapped up in one tiny person, and then I realized how much I actually wanted a baby."

Derek smiled gently at his friend, now knowing for a fact that Danny would make a great father.

"Anyway," Danny continued, waving the spatula in the air. "The chicken's done. Do you mind telling them?"

"No problem." Derek walked towards the muffled talking as Danny walked onto his patio. Derek followed the noise to Danny's office, stopping in the doorway and looking at the two omegas.

Jackson was holding up some color swatches against the wall, and Stiles was staring at them intently, head cocked.

"Well, if it's a girl, I think the light pink would look better than dark pink," Stiles said, oblivious to Derek's presence.

"Thank god," Jackson sighed, setting the swatches onto Danny's desk. "I knew that was the perfect color."

"Hey, you two," Derek spoke up, making Stiles jump and cower a little. Derek immediately walked over to Stiles and wrapped his arms around Stiles' waist, pulling him to his chest. "Dinner's ready."

Jackson did a fist-bump in the air. "Yes! We're starving." He looked down at his belly and gave it a light pat. "Aren't we, sweetie?" He then proceeded to walk out the door.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Derek whispered into Stiles' hairline.

The light press of Stiles' lips against his was the response he got. He cupped the back of the omega's head, lacing his fingers through the silky hair as he deepened the kiss, making it soft and warm.

Stiles pulled away, a blush forming on his cheeks. "It's ok." He batted his lashes at the alpha. "Make it up to me later?"

Derek just blinked at him for a moment, dumbfounded. Then he grinned.

"Did you just hit on me?" Derek asked, rubbing the tips of their noses together.

Stiles blushed a deep red, but wound his arms around Derek's neck anyway, pecking him lightly on the lips. "Maybe."

Derek chuckled and gave Stiles' bottom a light spank, whispering in his ear, "You naughty little thing."

The soft, light moan that escaped Stiles mouth surprised Derek. It also made him go hot with arousal, which wasn't exactly ideal when a person was going to sit down to dinner with a group of friends.

"We'll finish this later," Derek murmured. "I promise."

"Good," Stiles replied, pupils almost dilated. Fuck, Derek wanted to touch him right then and there. Just wanted to hold Stiles against his body while he shoved a hand down the omegas sweatpants and curled his fingers up into the hot, wet love-den.

Derek shook his head a little to snap out of his thoughts. He didn't need Jackson making fun of him. Quickly, Derek bent down and scooped Stiles up, earning a squeal of delight from his mate. "Up we go," Derek supplied, walking the two of them down the hall and to the kitchen.

The four of them sat down and ate, the sound of friendly chatter and clinking silver wear filling the air. Despite not being much of a people person, Derek genuinely enjoyed being in the company of Danny and Jackson. He had gotten to know them well in the past month. They both proved to be good friends to Derek and Stiles. Derek hadn't had a best friend since high school, but if he had to sum up his and Danny's relationship, it would have the label of 'best friends.' He was about 99% sure the feeling was mutual. They just had too much in common not to be.

Once dinner was over, Derek and Stiles helped clean up the dishes. They both listened to Danny and Jackson playfully bicker back and forth with each other for a solid 10 minutes before Derek understood that that was their form of foreplay. Once he was hit with that realization, Derek hastily excused himself and Stiles from their house. Jackson sent him a devilish smirk before Derek could fully close the door. He shuddered as he pulled Stiles over to their own house. There were just some things Derek did not want to see, know matter how fond he was of his friends.

Derek threaded his and Stiles' fingers together as he opened their door, ushering Stiles inside first before following. As soon as Derek closed the door, he quickly turned around and pulled Stiles to him, hands grasping beneath the omegas thighs as he hoisted him up, allowing Stiles to wrap his legs around Derek's waist. Stiles smiled bashfully as he curled his fingers into the cloth at the shoulders of Derek's shirt.

"What do you want, little one?" Derek asked in a low voice, his nose nudging Stiles' cheek.

Stiles blinked at him with his gorgeous eyes before responding shyly. "I want a kiss."

Derek grinned, rubbing their noses together. "Your wish is my command."

He sealed his lips over Stiles', the gentle pressure making butterflies flutter in his stomach. His nose was assaulted with the overwhelming smell of happiness and lust, making his wolf want to wag it's tail proudly. To know that he could invoke such responses from the little sweetheart in his arms was enough to make his head spin with joy.

Their kisses turned from light and happy to deep and passionate in less than a minute. Derek let his tongue explore Stiles' mouth while the omega wound his arms around Derek's neck.

The alpha didn't even realize he was walking until his legs hit the couch. He made a surprised noise before placing Stiles onto the soft cushions, detaching their mouths for a moment while he got them situated. He placed Stiles sideways so he was lying down, taking the chance to crawl over the smaller boy, settling himself between Stiles' legs. Stiles' eyes shone with raw want as he licked his spit-shiny lips, causing a low growl to escape Derek's throat.

Derek dove in once more, licking his way into Stiles' sweet mouth. His hands settled low on Stiles' hips as the omega gripped the front of Derek's shirt between his fingers, whining. Derek let out a soothing noise in response, his fingers trailing adventurously beneath Stiles' shirt, fingers ghosting along warm skin.

Suddenly, Stiles broke the kiss and wrinkled his nose in distaste. Derek froze his movements and pulled back a fraction, looking worriedly at the smaller boy.

"Stiles?" he questioned, eyes flickering over Stiles' face. "What's wrong? We can stop if you want."

Stiles gave a small shake of his head, his cheeks heating up before whispering, "It's really wet down there."

Derek let out a small, relieved chuckle and pressed a deep kiss to Stiles' lips. "That's completely normal, babe. It's because you're turned on. Your body's just trying to prepare you for sex. And even though we're not having sex, it's slicking you up just in case. That will happen every time you're turned on."

Of course Stiles' wouldn't have known any of that. Other than that one time a few weeks ago, they hadn't done anything more than kiss and cuddle. Fuck, Derek loved to cuddle.

"Oh," Stiles replied, his blush deepening.

A few seconds of silence went by before Derek swallowed hard, asking throatily, "Can I see?"

Stiles just blinked at him for a few moments, his heart ticking a little faster. Only it wasn't out of fear. It was nervousness combined with excitement, judging by the spike in his scent. Slowly he nodded yes, his tongue flickering out to wet his lips.

Derek smiled softly and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to the sweet mouth and taking his time to lick his way inside. His fingers hooked gently beneath the elastic of Stiles' sweatpants and boxers, very slowly pulling them down the slim hips, revealing inch after inch of creamy skin. Stiles obediently lifted his legs so Derek could easily slide them off. Once he flung them to the side, he broke their kiss, nuzzling Stiles' cheek affectionately.

"You sure?" Derek asked, hands gently rubbing up and down the bare thighs.

Stiles smiled and batted his eyelashes shyly. "Yeah." That said, he relaxed back into the cushions and stared up at Derek with half lidded eyes.

Derek nodded and slowly leaned back onto his heels, fingers trailing along the exposed skin on the journey down. Derek watched as goosebumps raised on Stiles' flesh along the path that his fingers traveled, making the alpha chuckle. As his hands got lower, he carefully pushed Stiles' thighs up and apart, spreading the omegas legs so he had the perfect view of the small, very slick hole. Derek's mouth immediately watered. Not only the sight was delicious, but the smell was heavenly. It was the most potent area on an omega when it came to their scent, and it was doing it's job well if Derek's flickering red eyes were anything to go by. He had the biggest urge to just lean forward and bury his face between the perfect little cheeks and make a thorough meal out of Stiles...

...So he did.

He held eye contact with Stiles as he leaned forward and licked a long, slow stripe over Stiles' quivering hole. Derek held back a satisfied growl as he watched the omegas pretty eyes dilate and his mouth fall open in a small 'o'. A fine blush made it's way onto Stiles' cheeks, making him look down right scrumptious. His hands found their way to the collar of Derek's shirt, fisting the material in his hands.

"That feel nice, little one?" Derek asked, voice low and throaty. He softly nuzzled Stiles' inner thigh, making Stiles' eyelashes flutter rapidly.

"Uh-huh," Stiles breathed, wetting his lips with his tongue.

Derek chuckled, sucking a bruising kiss onto the pale flesh next to Stiles' butt cheek. The breathy whine that Stiles let out was music to Derek's ears, and it encouraged him to keep going. Derek moved his mouth back to Stiles' hole and lapped at it some more, alternating between small flicks of his tongue and long, deep licks. He let out a satisfied growl as more of Stiles' slick trickled out, accompanied by a high whine from Stiles' mouth, his small fingers tightening further in Derek's shirt.

Derek grinned playfully at his mate before flexing his tongue, licking inside of Stiles as far as he could. That drove Stiles crazy, causing him to buck his hips a little, trying to get more of Derek's tongue inside of him.

"Like that?" Derek chuckled when he pulled away, tongue swiping across his own lips to gather up the extra slick.

"Yeah," Stiles breathed, a beautiful flush spread across his cheeks. His lips looked raw from kissing, and his eyes were heavily hooded.

Derek just grinned before diving back in, holding Stiles' thighs apart as he pushed his tongue inside him once again, curling and twisting it to the best of his ability. It was when Derek let out a small growl that Stiles came, no doubt the vibrations from the growl giving Stiles pleasure.

Stiles let out a tiny mewl and threw his head back, eyes closed, looking absolutely delicious to Derek in his obvious ecstasy. Along with the small spurt of come that Stiles released, a fresh wave of slick came gushing out as well, dripping down Derek's chin and coating the backs of Stiles' thighs.

Derek rumbled in satisfaction as he licked his mate clean, trying to stay away from any sensitive areas that may be overstimulated. As he continued his work, he looked up through his eyelashes at Stiles, whose chest was rising and falling rapidly as he tried catching his breath. His head was lolled onto it's left side and his eyes were half-lidded., a small smile on his lips.

Derek lifted his head from where he was cleaning Stiles, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and grinning wolfishly.

"How'd that feel?"

Stiles let out a bubble of laughter, his eyes shining. "Good. I didn't know anything could feel that good."

A spark of anger flared in Derek's chest at the words. He wasn't mad at Stiles. He was mad at the fact that those bastards who had held him captive could ingrain so much pain into Stiles' mind and body that the little omega didn't even know anything could feel nice. Well, for as long as Derek was alive, he would show Stiles how good it could be.

"Well you better believe it, baby, because I'm going to make you feel as good as I possibly can for the rest of our lives."

Stiles giggled again before giving his body a small stretch, a yawn escaping his mouth. "I'm tired."

Derek chuckled and stood up, bending down once more to scoop Stiles up into his arms. He placed a lingering kiss onto the omeags cheek as he carried him towards their bedroom.

"Thats' perfectly normal," Derek said. "Having an orgasm contracts a lot of muscles in your body and really gets your heart pumping. Being tired after sex is something that happens to many people. It's probably got an even larger effect on you considering your body is still trying to heal."

"Oh," Stiles responded, blushing cutely as he shyly buried his face into Derek's neck.

"You want a bath, little one?" Derek asked, nuzzling Stiles' soft hair.

"Yeah," came the muffled response. "I'm kinda sweaty and sticky."

"Bath it is then," Derek grinned. "We can take one together, if you'd like."

Stiles pulled his face away from Derek neck to look at him through his lashes. "I'd love that."

"Your wish is my command," Derek responded, heading towards the bathroom, grinning the entire way.

**XOXOXOXO**

Early the next morning, Derek found himself sitting on a lumpy couch in Chris Argent's home, said man sitting across from him in a rocking chair. He didn't look anything like the pictures Derek had seen of him. In the pictures he looked young and sharp as a whip. In person, well, he looked old. He had a scraggly beard, streaks of grey shimmering within it. There were noticeable bags beneath his eyes, making him look very tired and worn, like he had had just about enough of the world. Despite the fact that Derek was there to interrogate him, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Chris.

"Sorry if you don't like the tea," Chris spoke up in a hoarse voice, taking a sip from his own cup. "It's all I have at the moment."

"Oh, it's perfectly fine," Derek replied, quickly taking a sip of his own and holding back a grimace at the revolting taste. He set the cup back down and sighed gently. "So, Mr. Argent. You know why I'm here. The sooner we get this over with, the quicker we can both get on with our day."

Chris just silently set his cup down and looked at Derek with a glazed expression. "I didn't take any part in what my father and sister did. None of it." Chris' mouth twisted into a bone-chilling smile. "No, father said I was never smart enough to take part in anything like that."

Derek held back a shiver at Chris' blank gaze, but took note that he wasn't lying.

"Well, I'd say you were smart to not get involved with your fathers doings."

"Yeah," Chris mumbled, now looking past Derek completely, lost in his own mind. "Smart." His hand seemed to automatically go to a picture on the coffee table, tracing his finger over the edge over and over again.

Squinting, Derek could see it was a picture of two women, one older with red hair while the other looked to be a teenager with long, black hair and pale skin. They were looking at the camera and smiling, arms around each other in a hug.

"Family of yours?" Derek asked softly, thinking rough tactics would not work with Chris. He didn't seem to be playing with a full deck. He needed to be careful with the words he chose.

"Yeah," Chris mumbled, still staring blankly into thin air, but he turned the photo a little so Derek could have a better look.

"Is the red-head your wife?" Derek asked, pointing to her.

"Was," Chris replied, no emotion showing on his face. "She's dead. Car accident a few years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Derek apologized sincerely. "Is the other one your daughter?"

At this question, Derek noticed Chris' heart beat painfully in his chest, his face showing signs of grief.

"Yeah," he answered. "Allison. She went missing a while back. Authorities could never find her."

Derek's heart tugged painfully in his chest. He suddenly felt very sorry for this poor man. "I'm very sorry for all of your loss. For all of your losses."

That comment made Chris' face contort into a look of anger, a malicious smile taking over his lips. "You can be sorry for Victoria and Allison, but I don't give a shit about my dad and sister. They were bad people. Always were. Always looking to manipulate everybody. Kate used to be good, you know. She used to be the perfect little angel. But my dad--no, Gerard--twisted his way into her head, just like he twists his way into everybody's. He would have tried getting to Allison next if she hadn't gone missing." Chris then let out a humorless chuckle. "Did you know that that bastard didn't even try to help find her? Ok, he did the bare minimum and contacted authorities, but besides that he never batted an eyelash." A deep sadness then took over Chris' face, giving him that world-weary look once more. "I think about her every day. I like to think that she's still alive out there. You can't give up hope as a parent, you know? I like to think that one day she'll be found, and that she can come back and live with me again. But with each day that passes, I get more and more hopeless."

Derek smiled sadly at Chris before he slowly stood up. Chris looked up at him,

"I'm very sorry for disrupting your day," Derek apologized. "You're free to do as you please. You were obviously not part of what your father and sister did, so I'm sorry for interrogating you."

Chris just shrugged. "It's your job. No need to apologize."

"Once again, I'm sorry about your wife and daughter. I can't even imagine how horrible something like that is. I'll just show myself out, but have a good day Mr. Argent."

Chris just gave a brief nod of his head in reply before sipping at his tea, allowing Derek to slip down the hallway towards the front door. The hallway came to an end in the tiny kitchen, the front door right next to the fridge. As Derek reached for the knob, a picture on Chris' white fridge caught his attention. It was a picture of Chris' daughter again, but it was more up close than the other one. You could clearly see the dimples on her cheeks when she smiled, the pretty brown color of her eyes, the sun reflecting off her pearly white teeth. She looked happy, healthy and carefree.

But... something was off. Not with the picture or Allison herself, but something was weird about the feeling it gave Derek. It was like she looked familiar to him, but he had never seen her a day in his life. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

With a troubled mind, Derek opened the door and left, trying to put thoughts of Chris and Allison out of his mind.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek had his laptop settled on the top of his thighs, the fabric of his blanket separating skin from steele. He was reclined against the headboard of his bed, Stiles curled into his side and softly drooling on his chest. The omega was naked beneath the sheet due to certain activities taking place not but 10 minutes before.

Derek just smiled affectionately down at the sleeping face, pressing a kiss to the messy hair. "I wore you out, didn't I?" he said, chuckling softly.

Turning his attention back to the laptop screen, he sighed, eyes scanning the google page. He had typed in 'Allison Argent,' and only a few articles had popped up. They all claimed the same thing, that she had just simply went missing one day nearly a year ago and was never found.

He clicked on the article at the very top of the page, leading him to a news website. A photo of Allison was at the top, different from the two pictures he'd seen in Chris' house. This one was her school picture, showing her in a red shirt smiling sweetly at the camera.

Derek frowned in concentration, feeling the same sense of deja vu that he had had at Chris Argent's house. It annoyed him that he couldn't remember why he was having such a reaction to her picture. Perhaps he had seen her around town before she had gone missing? That couldn't have been it, though. He had seen plenty of people wandering around the streets of Beacon Hills. He surely wouldn't be able to pick out any of them in a crowd.

Derek then thought that maybe he had seen pictures of her when she had gone missing, which would explain why he recognized her. But he couldn't remember ever seeing files on her case, so he ruled that option out as well.

Derek sighed in frustration and closed his laptop, his eyes glancing one last time at Allison's picture. If he kept trying to figure it out, he would just get even more frustrated. He needed a break from it for a while. Maybe when he tried again with a clear head, he'd be able to remember details. Then again, maybe he had never seen her anywhere before and his brain was just tricking him. Either way, he would try again after a good nights sleep.

Derek reached over and clicked off the lamp, bathing the room in darkness, save for the moonbeams spilling in through the window. He shuffled down a little so he could rest his head on his pillow, trying not to jostle the sleeping omega in his arms. Stiles' eyelids fluttered for a few minutes, unfocused eyes looking blearily around the room. Derek stroked his back and made soothing sounds in response, allowing the omega to snuggle closer and fall back asleep.

Derek laughed lightly, kissing the messy hair once more. He shut his eyes himself as he wrapped his arms around his mate, chest rumbling in satisfaction. The stress in every one of his muscles started to fade away as he breathed in the sweet, light scent of pure Stiles. It soothed every ache in him like nothing else in the world could.

It was just as he was starting to finally doze off when it hit him, his eyes snapping wide open.

Allison Argent.

He had seen her before.

He had seen her in Eichen House.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the massive support this story has gotten! You all make writing this story super fun! Have a wonderful day, friends!
> 
> Come chat with me on Tumblr!: http://hero-complex-girl.tumblr.com/


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Remember me? No? Yeah, I didn’t think so. It’s been for-fucking-ever since I last updated this fic (Like over 2 years. Yikes.). I only have one excuse for this: college has pretty much sucked my soul into the black abyss. Thankfully I only have a year and a half left, but even that’s too long in my opinion, haha. 
> 
> I’m not gonna chat for too long since I’m guessing you came here to read this chapter and not listen this me blab my mouth. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has continued to read and re-read this fic over and over again, and for those who have kept leaving comment after comment even as I was silent for 2 years. That makes me realize just how much this story means to others as well as myself. I said I would never abandon this fic, and I fucking meant it. So just thank you all who have made the traffic for this story blow up by leaving kudos and comments and subscribing (over 1600 subscribers! That’s fucking nuts!). So without further ado I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy and thank you soooo much for reading.

The next morning, Derek found himself sitting in his bathtub, the water warm against his skin and Stiles’ body between his legs. The omega was still sleepy, content with just snuggling up to Derek’s front as the alpha used a sponge to clean his skin.

“I wish we could just cuddle in bed,” Stiles murmured, eyes heavy, still half asleep.

Derek chuckled, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ temple. “I have tomorrow off, love. We can sleep in and cuddle all you want to.”

“Good,” Stiles replied, yawning so wide his jaw cracked. “I miss you when you’re gone.”

Derek smiled lovingly at his mate as he continued to wash him. Never would he have expected Stiles to form a bond with him so quickly. Not that Derek was complaining. He was more than thrilled that Stiles wasn’t afraid of him anymore. His wolf couldn’t even handle the thought of his mate flinching or shying away from him. It was such a miracle that Stiles hadn’t been completely broken by what he had lived through. If the Argent’s were still alive, Derek would have hunted them down by himself and killed them with his bare hands, as slowly and painfully as possible—

Stiles shifted restlessly in his arms, sensing Derek’s mood change.

“Sorry, little one,” Derek spoke, nuzzling the omegas claiming bite. “When I get home we’ll do something fun, okay?”

Stiles gave him a small smile and nodded, swiveling his head around to press a shy kiss to Derek’s stubble-covered cheek. Derek rewarded the kiss with a nuzzle to Stiles’ mating bite, causing the omega to shiver.

“I think it’s time to get you out of the tub before you turn into a prune,” Derek whispered in the omegas ear, lips softly brushing the shell of it.

“Uh-huh,” was the breathy response, cheeks tinged a slight shade of pink.

Derek just chuckled as he pulled the plug for the drain, trying to get up carefully so the water in the tub wouldn’t slosh everywhere. Once out, he grabbed a fluffy towel and slung it over his shoulder before bending down and scooping a wet, squealing Stiles out of the bathtub. He quickly folded the omegas limbs into the towel so water wouldn’t drip all over the place.

“You wanna wear some of my clothes today?” Derek asked, knowing that Stiles felt more secure surrounded by Derek’s scent.

Stiles gave him a small smile and nodded, prompting Derek to quickly retrieve one of his cozy sweaters and some comfortable sweatpants. Once he had Stiles dried off and clothed, he ushered the sleepy omega back to bed. Jackson would just have to watch tv on Derek’s couch for the time being. But in the meantime, Derek had to go and take a trip back to Eichen house.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek stared at the building in front of him, letting out a frustrated sigh. It wasn’t like he had come without a plan or anything. In fact, he had stayed up late the previous night detailing plans A through L in case some didn’t work out. No, the plan wasn’t what Derek was frustrated with. He was annoyed with Eichen House itself. Derek hadn’t liked the place the first time he’d been there, the building giving him a rare case of the heebie jeebies. That being said, he wasn’t too keen on stepping foot on the property once again, but Chris seemed like a good man. Derek wasn’t going to idly sit by and let his daughter waste away any longer. His conscious wouldn’t let him.

Gathering up his nerve, Derek pushed his way through the front doors, plastering a fake, pleasant smile onto his face as he approached the front desk. The girl behind the desk looked bored, snapping her gum as she inspected her bright blue fingernails. She briefly looked up at Derek, raising her eyebrows in some form of greeting. Her eyes then widened as she turned to fully face him, smiling flirtatiously as she wound a piece of glossy, brown hair around her finger.

“Why, _hello,_ ” she purred, batting her eyelashes.

Derek strongly resisted the urge to roll his eyes and curl his lip, instead choosing to give her a small smile in return. “Hi. I’m here for visiting hours.”

The girl bit her lip and nodded her head. “Sure. And who are you here to see? A cousin? Girlfriend maybe?”

_Jesus. Could she be any more obvious?_ The Lydia sounding voice scoffed. _She may as well just pull down her pants and bend over._

Derek stifled his laughter, hoping he didn’t look like a nut. “No. I’m here to visit Malia.”

The girl hummed, her fingers clicking against the keyboard of the computer. “And her last name?”

Fuck. He didn’t know Malia’s last name. Hell, he wouldn’t even know her first name if it hadn’t been for that idiot Brunsky yelling at her before.

_Time to commence plan B._

Derek leaned against the counter casually, giving the girl an easy grin that made her arousal more potent in the air. It smelled entirely wrong, making Derek feel queasy. He liked the way Stiles smelled when he was turned on, all soft and sweet and slightly floral. This girl didn’t smell anything like it, the air around him growing heavy with a smokey smell instead. He wanted nothing more than to get home and bury his face between Stiles’ legs.

“C’mon. How many people here are named Malia?” Derek asked, tilting his head enticingly.

She blushed under his gaze before giggling nervously. “You’re right. I can have someone assist you to one of the visitor rooms.”

Derek was a little dazed, surprised his plan had actually worked. Thank god for horny young women.

“James will walk you to one of the rooms,” the girl said, nodding in the direction of a young man walking towards them. She then rested her head in his palm and gazed up at him, fluttering her eyelashes quickly. “So. Is Malia your girlfriend?”

_You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,_ Derek thought. This girl just couldn’t take a hint.

“Hello sir. If you’ll follow me, I can take you to one of our rooms,” the young man said as he walked up, giving Derek an easy smile. Derek nodded in reply as he turned to follow him, looking back at the girl one last time.

“No, she’s not my girlfriend,” Derek replied, giving her a wink for show. He could hear her heart speed up even more as she bit her lip and leaned forward. Derek grinned as he pulled down his collar to show off his mating bite. “My mate’s a boy. I have a boyfriend.”

He couldn’t help but snort out a laugh as he finally turned and followed the guy, smelling the girls embarrassment all the way to the visitor room.

**XOXOXOXO**

Derek had quickly been ushered into a room, the size of it small but comfortable. It had two cream colored couches and two end tables, both with a box of tissues sitting on them. A large window looking out to the gardens made up for the lack of space, making the room feel more open. Besides that, the room was quite dull.

Derek only had to sit for a few minutes before a sharp knock sounded on the door, causing him to sit up straighter. The door swung open to reveal James and Malia, the latter piercing Derek with a fierce gaze.

“You have a good hour to talk and whatnot,” James said, moving aside so Malia could ungracefully plop herself down on the couch opposite Derek. “I’ll come back and knock when time’s up.” With that, he gave a small wave of his fingers and gently closed the door behind him.

Derek opened his mouth to greet Malia politely, but she beat him to it.

“Who the fuck are you?” she barked, crossing her arms over her chest, a defiant look shining in her brown eyes.

Momentarily startled, Derek just looked at her, not sure what to make of her bluntness.

Malia just squinted her eyes in response, letting out a rather deep growl for such a young girl. “Hello? Are you mental? What’s _wrong_ with you?”

That managed to shake Derek out of his stupor. He quickly cleared his throat and gave her a smile. “Sorry. I’m not used to people being so _blunt_ , I guess.”

Malia rose her eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

“Uh, I’m Derek. Derek Hale. You’ve never met me before—”

“Clearly,” Malia snorted.

“—but I was here a few weeks ago. I’m an FBI agent and I was here to question someone.”

Malia let out a loud laugh, slapping her knees as if it were the most hilarious thing she’d ever heard. “I remember you. You thought Brunsky was part of a drug ring.”

Derek frowned. “How did you…?”

She pointed to her ears and flashed her eyes. “Werewolf.”

“Right,” Derek replied. “Well, I’ll just get to the point then. You’re not the person I’m here to see.”

Malia squinted her eyes and looked around the room. “Well. Me sitting here would suggest otherwise.”

Derek sighed. “Yeah, I know. I just… I thought maybe you could help me find the person I’m _really_ here for.

Curiosity sparked behind Malia’s eyes, causing her to lean forward. “Go on,” she replied.

Derek nodded and took a deep breath. “There was a girl you were with. Long, black hair. Pale. Allison, I believe?”

Malia inhaled sharply as she sat up straight, fingers flexing in her lap. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Derek held back a smile, hearing the blip in her heartbeat. Going by her body language, it was easy to see that Malia was protective of Allison. He needed to tread carefully here.

“I understand you want to protect your friend, Malia. Hell, I don’t even know the whole story behind why she’s in here, but I _do_ know that she went missing almost three years ago—”

“Went _missing_?!” Malia interrupted, eyes flaring ice blue. “She was _brought_ here. I may not be the smartest, but I do know a person can’t be missing if _someone_ knows where they are.”

Derek frowned, now confused. “What do you mean she was brought here? Brought by who?”

Malia folded her arms across her chest and rose and eyebrow. “You know, for an FBI agent, you sure don’t know much about your own case, do you?”

Derek gave a quick shake of his head. “No, no. It’s not a case. I met her father yesterday and he mentioned she had vanished a few years back. I saw her picture at his house and recognized her from when I was here before. I’m not here because I _have_ to be. I came to get her out of here.”

The hard look on Malia’s face softened slightly, her body language relaxing a little.

“Do you know who brought her in here? Was it her dad?” Derek pressed, now feeling somewhat suspicious of Chris Argent. Had Derek read him wrong the whole time? Was he just as good at manipulating people as Gerard was?

“According to Allison, no,” Malia replied. She then scowled and shifted her gaze to the window before mumbling, “She told me it was her weirdo grandpa.”

“Gerard?” Derek asked, fingers tightly gripping the armrests of his chair. “Do you mean Gerard?”

Malia looked at him like he had grown two heads. “Gerard, Jerry, Janice, I can’t remember. All old people sound the same.”

Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look,” he continued, hoping the look on his face was sincere. “I appreciate the bits of information that you’ve given me. They really help. But would it be too much to ask of you to find Allison? I’d really like to hear the whole story from her before I call in some reinforcements and get her the hell out.”

The hard look returned to her eyes. “And what’s in it for me? What do I get out of this?”

Derek sighed as he looked at her, not quite knowing what to say. He knew why she was being stubborn. It was obvious Malia cared for Allison and didn’t want her to get hurt. Perhaps Allison was even her only friend in Eichen House. He could see why she wouldn’t want to give up her only friend. Loneliness was hard to live with. Derek had experienced that first hand. Luckily, he had Stiles now.

“I know you want to protect Allison, Malia. I get that. And I can’t really promise that there’s anything in it for you. But think of Allison. Don’t you think she wants to see her dad again? To be back where she belongs? If you know she was put in here unfairly, don’t you think the only way to make it right is to get her back out?”

Malia stared at him for a few moments, chewing on her bottom lip as she fought some sort of internal battle. After what felt like ages, she let out a heavy sigh and nodded her head yes.

“You’re right,” she replied. “Allison’s too good for this place. She shouldn’t be stuck in here with the rest of us nutjobs.”

Derek frowned, wanting to correct her and say that the people here weren’t nutjobs, that they just needed some extra help to get by in life. But before he could say anything, Malia stood up and marched over to the door with more confidence than Derek thought he’d ever have.

“What are you doing?” he asked, not wanting her to get in trouble by just walking down the hallway. “I have plans. Several of them.”

Malia rolled her eyes and gave him a devilish smirk. “Who needs plans when she’s standing on the other side?” With that, she yanked the door open to reveal a startled Allison, hand over her rapidly beating heart, eyes as big as saucers.

“C’mon,” Malia urged the brunette, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the room.

“What--?” Allison started, trailing obediently behind Malia and getting pulled down onto the seat next to her. Alarmed, she looked back and forth between Malia and Derek, eyes crinkling suspiciously in Derek’s direction.

“Meet Derek,” Malia said with glee, nodding towards him. “Derek here is an FBI agent and he’s come to bust you out!”

“Jesus,” Derek muttered, wishing he could have told Allison himself. “Way to ease into it.”

“What’s going on?” Allison demanded, voice as harsh as the distrustful look she was sending him.

To say Derek was surprised would have been an understatement. When he had first laid eyes on Allison a few weeks ago, she had looked so frail and small with her pale skin and sharp cheekbones. But up close, Derek could see his initial observation had all been a lie. No, she wasn’t a werewolf, but there was such a hard look of anger and confidence in her eyes and body language that even Derek’s wolf felt it needed to bow in respect.

Derek gave her a small smile. “Hello, Allison. I’m Derek Hale. I’m also an FBI agent as your friend was _so kind_ as to point out.” He felt his sarcasm had been at least a little justified, but seeing the planes of her face grow harder, body going tenser, made Derek think otherwise. He thought it would at least make her crack a small smile, but he realized his mistake as soon as she slipped her hand into Malia’s and laced their fingers together.

“Oh,” Derek said dumbly, biting back an irritated sigh. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your, uh, _girlfriend._ ”

“Well congratulations. You have,” Allison snipped. “Now what is it you want?”

“Right,” Derek muttered, refocusing his thoughts. “I’ll just cut to the point. I spoke with your father the other day—” Allison’s breath caught in her throat "--and he told me a funny story about how you had just up and vanished one day. Showed me pictures and everything, said nobody had been able to track you down. Seeing your picture made me remember seeing you here when I came to talk to Brunski a few weeks ago. Now that I’ve found you, I’ve come to take you home. This place is going to be in some serious shit when I call for backup—"

“My father,” Allison interrupted. “How is he?”

Derek smiled gently. “He’s fine. Really lonely from what I could tell. He misses you a lot. I, I just hope you know he didn’t have anything to do with you being in here.”

“I know that,” Allison replied, voice hard. “I was there. I know what fucking happened. My dad wouldn’t do that to me.”

“So, can you tell me what _did_ happen?” Derek asked, raising his eyebrows. “I don’t know the whole story, but Malia said you were brought here. Is that true? Does Eichen House know a supposed missing child is in their building? Because if that’s the case, this place could be shut down for good.”

Miraculously, the hard lines in Allison’s face disappeared, replaced with a tired look that made her seem 10 years older than she really was. “It’s true. I was brought here. But for the record, this place is under the illusion that my name is something else entirely.” She held out her hand, the tiniest smirk playing on her lips. “Cassandra Tucker. Nice to meet you.”

Derek snorted out a laugh but shook her frail hand anyway. “I thought a different alias was a possibility. That’s why I asked for Malia at the desk, because I wasn’t sure if Allison Argent was an actual resident. I couldn’t afford to fuck up.”

“Hm, smart,” Malia hummed, side eyeing Allison.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but I’d really like a good statement to give to my coworkers. Can you tell me how it is that you came to be stuck in this hellhole?”

Allison gave a brisk nod, squeezing Malia’s fingers. “Of course. I’ve wanted nothing more than to leave this place since the moment I was shoved in here. However, I’ll only do it on one condition.”

Derek rose an eyebrow. “And that condition is?”

“Malia gets out too,” Allison replied, face straight and brown eyes serious. “Otherwise no deal.”

Malia gave her a sharp look, nudging her in the side. “Allison, this is your chance to get _out_ of this hell hole. Don’t fuck it up by making stupid demands.”

Allison held Derek’s gaze, ignoring Malia completely. “Deal? Or no?”

Derek look back and forth between Allison’s intense gaze and Malia’s hopeful look, sighing as he gave in.

“Typically I wouldn’t be able to do this, but I promise that you’ll both walk out of here, ok? I _promise_.”

Allison’s eyes widened a fraction, her mask slipping slightly as if she couldn’t believe her plan had worked. She then gave a small nod of her head and relaxed into the couch.

“Ok,” she breathed, bottom lip trembling. “I’ll tell you. And then I’d like to leave and see my dad.”

“You will. I just need to know what happened,” Derek promised. He cleared his throat before continuing, taking out a recording device. He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, but I’ll need to record this for evidence.”

“Of course,” Allison agreed, eyeing the device warily.

“So,” Derek started as he pressed the record button. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, Allison. How did you end up here?”

Allison sighed, squeezing Malia’s hand and giving her a tense smile. “I was brought here by my grandfather and aunt about three years ago.”

“And their names are?” Derek asked, having a good idea of what the answer was.

“Gerard and Kate Argent,” Allison replied, tone angry. “My own _family_ members.”

Derek smiled sympathetically. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but they’re both dead now.”

“ _Good_ ,” Allison hissed. Malia shifted uncomfortably beside her. “I hope they suffered for what they did. Not only to me, but to everyone else.”

Derek’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Did she know about the omegas? Fuck, had she somehow been _part_ of what happened to them?

“What do you mean, Allison? What did they do?”

Taking a moment to collect herself, she smiled tensely at him. “I’m going to tell you the story from the beginning, and I _don’t_ want any interruptions. I’ve had to keep it to myself for years, and now it’s _my_ turn to talk.”

Derek nodded, pretending to zip his lips shut as he sank back into his seat and listened.

Satisfied, Allison nodded and began.

“My grandfather and aunt had always been very close to each other, but tended to stay away from my father and I. I was never bothered by it, really. Some people like family, some people don’t. They had always given me a… a _strange_ feeling, I guess. Like something wasn’t right. They were just weird to me. So when my dad told me they were moving to Beacon Hills, I guess I wasn’t too keen on rolling out the welcome wagon. Yeah, sure, I was polite about it, but I was still distant. Like I said, something about them just felt off. Turns out, my intuition would be right all along.

“You see, I’ve always been a bright student. Always on the honor roll, taking AP classes, all of that stuff. So when I happened to notice the amount of missing people skyrocketing in town, something in my gut told me it wasn’t a coincidence. I don’t know how I knew, but I just _knew_ it had something to do with my grandfather and aunt. So, I did something really stupid. I decided to break into Kate’s house to look for whatever _evidence_ I thought there would be. So I went to her house and hid behind some bushes until I saw her get in her car and leave. I honestly thought I would need to bust the door down or something, but she had left one of her windows open, making my job a little easier. Of course, it had been left open on purpose, but I didn’t know that at the time. So, I hoisted myself inside and took a look around. Her house wasn’t that big so there weren’t many places to hide things. Thinking I was clever, I took a look under her couch cushions and ta-da! She had a bunch of files with hundreds of papers in them. I remember laughing about the idea of evidence hiding in plain sight, but I suppose they had been put there on purpose as well.

“So I started looking through all of these files, and I just felt absolute disgust at what I was reading. All of these omegas, _tons_ of them, had been kidnapped by them. I don’t even know how many files there were, but each omega had a file. Hell, I even knew some of them. Kate and Gerard were keeping tabs on all of these omegas, like what medications they were giving them and what not to feed them and _how_ they had gotten a hold of them. It all just made me sick. I knew that I needed to get out of there and inform the authorities before anyone else got hurt. But before I could grab the files and leave, I heard my aunt behind me. Apparently she had been onto my suspicions and decided to do something about it. I turned around and faced her, and she had the nastiest smile on her face. The last thing I remembered was hearing her say ‘Nobody likes a snoop,’ before I was knocked unconscious.

“I don’t even know how much time went by, but eventually I woke up in the back of a van. Kate and Gerard were both there and they were just going on and on and _on_ about how they didn’t like the way I was trying to ruin their plans. I begged them to let me go, even promised that I wouldn’t tell anyone about what I saw, but they knew I wouldn’t keep it a secret. So they drug me here, to Eichen House. Gerard pretended to be my father, claiming that I had a severe case of schizophrenia and was prone to extreme outbursts of rage. I have no idea where they got it from, but they handed the orderlies a fake file on me, claiming my name was Cassandra Tucker, and that they wanted to admit me for a long time. Of course, me being me, I threw a fit right there, screaming about how they were both liars. Well, that just seemed to prove their point that I was crazy, so someone there gave me a sedative to make me sleep. Every time I woke up, I’d just start screaming again for them to let me go, but it always ended the same way with a needle jammed in my arm. This went on for about two months before I realized that nobody was going to help me. I was just stuck here, and I’ve been stuck here ever since.”

The room was silent for a few moments, Allison breathing heavily as Derek stared at her with wide eyes. He hadn’t expected a story like that in the slightest.

“Thank you, Allison,” Derek finally managed to get out, hitting stop on the recording device. “I’m deeply sorry that you had to go through that.”

Allison let out a humorous laugh. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t smarter about the whole thing. You said they were dead. Does that mean their _organization_ was shut down?”

“For the most part,” Derek replied. “We managed to find a lot of the omegas and free them. But I guarantee they’ve got people working in every state. Maybe even multiple countries. It’s my job to try and find the rest of them.”

“Are you the one who cracked the original case?” Malia asked.

Derek nodded. “Yeah, I am. I’m glad I did too, otherwise I don’t know if I would have found my mate.”

“They took your mate?” Allison asked, lip curling in disgust. “I’m sorry. Really, I am. What they did was truly disgusting.”

“It’s not your fault. If anything, maybe I should thank you,” he joked lightly. “If you had cracked the case before, perhaps I wouldn’t have even found my mate yet.”

“Wait. You mean you didn’t meet your mate until you _solved_ the case?” Malia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Derek sighed. “I was one of the people who raided the Argent estate. I found him chained up in the basement half dead. That’s why this case is a bit more _personal_ than anything I’ve had before.”

“Disgusting,” Allison muttered to herself once more, shaking her head.

“I don’t suppose you remember seeing a folder for a Stiles Stilinski, do you?” Derek knew it was highly unlikely that she would remember details like that, but he had to try. Any piece of information on Stiles’ father was good. It would bring him one step closer to finding him.

“No, I’m sorry,” Allison apologized. “There were just so many names in those folders that they all blurred together after a while.”

“Thought I’d try anyway,” Derek replied. “I’m trying to find my mates father, but I keep hitting dead ends. Guess I’ll have to come up with another plan.”

“Stilinski?”

Derek looked up to lock eyes with Malia. She had an unreadable expression on her face, lips thin and eyes squinted.

“Uh, yeah,” Derek responded, heart speeding up a bit. “Why? Do you… have you heard of him?”

She frowned slightly and cocked her head. “I think my dad was friends with a few Stilinski’s back in high school. Always talked about his good friend Eddie Stilinski.”

Disappointment flooded through Derek’s veins like ice water. “No, I’m looking for a Jonathan Stilinski, not Eddie. Thanks though.”

“His brother’s name was Jonathan,” Malia added, eyes laser focusing on Derek. “Who knows. Might be the same guy.”

“Well that’s definitely worth a shot.” And if it was a dead end, he could at least say he tried.

“I can give you my dad’s number. Hopefully he didn’t change it,” she muttered. “It’s really the least I could do since you’re getting us out of here.”

Derek nodded, digging into his pants pocket and fishing out a notepad and a pen, as well as his cell phone. He slid the paper over to Malia so she could write down the number.

“So,” Allison interrupted, tapping her heel against the floor impatiently. “When exactly are we getting out of here?”

Derek held up his cell phone and smiled, shaking it for emphasis. “Right now.”

Her answering smile was beautiful.

**XOXOXOXO**

Later that night, Derek found himself with his face buried between Stiles’ legs. His large hands held pale thighs up and open, displaying a delicious meal to his eyes. The scent was enough to make his mouth water, forcing him to swallow his saliva so he wouldn’t drool all over Stiles’ cheeks. He wanted nothing more than to just dive in a get a mouthful of the slick, but he couldn’t due to Stiles’ entire body jerking with laughter.

Derek sighed and lifted his head, glaring at his giggling mate. “It’s not funny, Stiles,” he said, biting his cheek to keep back a laugh of his own.

“S-sorry,” Stiles squeaked, wiping away a tear of laughter from his face. “It _is_ funny, Derek! I can’t help it.”

Derek nipped at Stiles’ inner thigh in retaliation, causing the younger boy to yelp loudly. Feeling an immediate flood of guilt, Derek pressed a soft kiss to the same spot in hopes of soothing the pain. Apparently the pain did nothing to deter Stiles form laughing since the giggling picked back up full force.

“I just think it’s funny you found her smell so repulsive,” Stiles laughed.

Yeah. It had _definitely_ been a mistake to tell Stiles about the desk girl from Eichen House. He would never hear the end of it now.

“I didn’t even know that was possible,” Stiles continued, wiggling in Derek’s grip. “I thought all omegas were supposed to smell good to alphas.”

“Clearly not,” Derek sighed, eyeing Stiles’ hole before pressing forward and shoving his tongue in as far as he could get it.

The omegas giggles turned into a choked out moan, the lithe body stilling beneath Derek’s grip. Derek grinned against the bare flesh as he continued his ministrations. He felt a small hand thread through his hair and give a gentle tug, causing him to moan at the sensation.

“Maybe you need to run into her more often,” Stiles joked, voice weak and shaky as he tried spreading his legs further.

Derek grinned in reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I had a great time writing it once again, and it felt good to finally post this. Hopefully I’ve pulled in my old readers once more and gained new ones as well! That’s really all I have to say other than I won’t be waiting two whole years to post the next chapter, lol. Comments are always appreciated, and have a wonderful day!
> 
> Come cry about Sterek and Gallavich with me on tumblr: http://hero-complex-girl.tumblr.com/


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